Stepping Out Of The Shadows
by Tsuki's Angel
Summary: The story starts with an ordinary girl who dreams to be a pirate. She ran away from home for that reason. She meets a handsome, crimson-eyed pirate who had taken sudden interest in her and of course, she refused to go with him. So, he kidnapped her. NxM
1. The Fallen Angel

**Chapter 1—Revised and Rewritten.**

**To those who have read it before****: It may be different, yes, but the plot is still the same, I assure you.**

**Disclaimer: Do. Not. Own.**

**I changed it so that it's much more interesting and fun! :D**

**Happy Reading!**

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**Stepping Out Of The Shadows**

**By Tsuki's Angel**

**~Chapter 1~**

**-The Fallen Angel-**

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A girl with hazel eyes stood outside a pub. She was clad in dark, ripped denim shorts, a white collar shirt accompanied by a black vest both which stopped directly underneath her chest revealing her tiny stomach, and white heeled boots that tied up to her knees. To put it simply, there stood an utterly gorgeous girl, waiting to be whisked away by some prince from a fairytale. However, this was no fairytale—in fact, it was far from it.

The girl's amused eyes glittered in the dim light that the candle above the antique pub sign gave off. She was wearing a belt that held a silver dagger. She held one hand on her hip as she walked into the pub, calling no attention from the men drinking and gambling mindlessly. She sat on a tattered stool and ordered herself a glass of red wine from the bartender. She turned her back to the counter, leaning on it with her elbows, as she looked around the bar for a particular someone. Someone she knew that had something that would help her accomplish her goal.

"Your drink, milady."

The elegant girl paid no mind to the man as she took the glass and took a delicate sip, still fixing her dangerously sharp eyes around the place. She let out a breath when she realized that what she was looking for might not even be here. She was so sure, too… She sighed as she took another small sip from the glass. She set it back down onto the counter as she turned around. She took out a small black, tattered book from her back pocket and opened it to reveal its yellowing pages. She mentally crossed off the town she was in from the list.

. . .

A raven-haired man took a sip from a glass. The man had piercing crimson eyes. He was wearing worn out jeans, a black dress shirt with the cuffs rolled up to his elbows and the first four buttons undone, and black leather shoes. He was stunningly handsome—the prince in a fairytale. He was sitting at the counter, swirling the contents of his drink in his glass. He had been here at the pub for a couple of hours, in fact. His father told him to wait here while he went off to do some 'important business'. Pfft. Important business his arse.

"Oi," the crimson-eyed fellow said to the bartender. He turned around and asked him what he wanted. "I hear someone is coming here tonight. _She_ is supposed to be here for only a day."

The bartender smirked, "So what? I don't know anything about it."

The man scowled, "Cut the crap, I _know_ you do."

The bartender did not faze, "Who are _you_ to be asking of such tall orders?"

"Natsume Hyuuga."

The bartender froze, but then grinned mischievously, "Really now?" He turned to face Natsume. "The famous Natsume Hyuuga. Can't believe I didn't notice it before…"

Damn straight. Why didn't he notice? Who wouldn't know his name? He was, after all, the son of the captain of the _Lunar Eclipse_, the best pirate ship in the world. He was the son of the most cunning, feared, and respected pirate in the world.

"Tell you what," the bartender said. "She's known as the _Fallen Angel. _She's as beautiful as an angel, but she's a dangerous one. Nobody can get past her, but I can tell you that she is in this very pub right now."

Natsume raised an eyebrow and scoffed sarcastically, "That narrows it down."

"I heard she was at the market today," he said, cleaning a glass. "Someone _tried_ to get her to talk, but she just knocked them out straight up. She's quite the tough one."

"I bet I can break her," he smirked.

"Ladies man, are you?" the bartender mused. "Well, I'll tell you who she is, but good luck getting her on your crew."

Natsume blinked, "How the hell did you know what I need or don't need her for?"

The man shrugged, "Just a guess. I'm presuming I was right?"

Natsume growled, "It was not my idea. It was my father's. He said she would be a _wonderful_ addition." Natsume's voice was completely sardonic. "As if we don't have _enough_ people on our crew."

The bartender sighed, "Well, then. I should probably tell you who she is."

"That would be nice," Natsume said. The bartender pointed to Natsume's left. A few seats down, there she sat.

Natsume was incredulous that the girl was just a few seats away from him the whole time at first but once he got a good look at her, his maroon eyes widened by the slightest bit. The girl he pointed out was absolutely stunning. She had auburn hair and the most alluring hazel eyes. She held an expression of exhaustion and a hint of sadness. She put a black book into her back pocket, and took out a silver coin in its place. She placed the silver coin next to her half-full wine glass. She heaved a sigh, running a hand through her luscious, curly hair, giving it a messy, but sexy look.

"Next round's on me if you can get her to crack," the bartender said, amusedly.

Natsume smirked, not taking his eyes off the beautiful girl, "You're on."

Natsume got up and out of his seat and sat down next to the girl, who was preparing to make her leave. Once his shadow cast over her, she looked up at him, wondering what the heck was going on. Once her eyes locked with his, she held her breath.

She had never seen anyone like him before. He looked like he was an angel sent straight down from heaven. He had the most perfect features—eyes, nose, lips, and _oh_, the _eyes_. They were intoxicating, and just hypnotizing. She blew out a bottled up breath and tore her gaze away from him. He was gorgeous, yes, but did he look like trouble? _Of course_, he just _screamed_ trouble and trouble was the last thing she needed, although it had its way of finding her when she least expects it.

She got up to leave, so that she could go to the next town to search for what she was looking for, but a strong hand grabbed her shoulder. She stared at the owner of the hand and he was gazing at her intensely, kind of making her feel like she was in for something.

"Do you mind?" she said. "I kind of have to get somewhere."

Natsume grinned, "Listen, I need to ask you for something."

The girl scoffed, displeasure crossing her face—there was something about that smirk she did not like. She answered, "You and every other dim-witted man I have ever encountered."

Natsume's eyes narrowed, "Dim-witted? Who said I was stupid?"

The girl smirked, "You said it, not me."

Natsume boiled with anger. Just who _was_ this girl? Why did his father want _her_?

"You have a smart mouth, Princess," he glowered. "But you should have a bit less of a pretty mouth, and more of a pretty face."

The girl's jaw dropped, "_Excuse me_? Did you just call me _unattractive_?"

Natsume smirked, "You said it, not me."

She puffed out her cheeks, "Do you want to repeat that, you good-for-nothing arse?"

"Arse? You _do_ have a pretty mouth," Natsume said, teasing her. "How about you let me kiss it?"

The girl's face reddened, "You just couldn't get any _vulgar_."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," Natsume replied, running a hand through his tousled hair.

"_Ugh_! Why am I even _talking_ to you?" she yelled, crossing her arms over her chest.

Natsume smirked and leaned down toward her ear, "Because I'm irresistible."

The girl rolled her eyes, "Yes. I feel as though I am going to faint."

Natsume frowned at her bitter sarcasm. He sighed and decided to get straight to the point, "I have a favor of my father," Natsume said, trying to be patient with her.

"Who said I had to oblige?" the girl said, starting to walk. Natsume grabbed her hand. The girl whirled around to meet his gaze face to face.

"Listen," he said. "I need you to join our crew."

Something flashed in the girl's eyes as she wrenched her hand away, "What do I get out of it?"

Natsume sighed, "What do you—"

"A bar-fight sounds amusing to me."

Both the girl and Natsume whirled around, to see that the bartender spoke up.

"What?" Natsume said. "I'm not fighting a _girl_."

The girl raised an eyebrow, "Oh really? Why is that, _oh handsome one_?"

"It's indecent," he replied without hesitation.

"You've already accomplished indecency," she said, rolling her eyes. "What have you got to lose?"

A vein throbbed in Natsume's head, "I still refuse."

The bartender spoke up, "Well, then, I guess it can't be helped. I was hoping to get some betting going on—"

"I accept."

Suddenly, the entire bar became quiet. They all stared at the girl with auburn hair, who had accepted a bar-fight against the son of the captain of the _Lunar Eclipse_! She had some nerve to do that. They were all quietly waiting for the terms of the fight—what would one win and what would one lose.

"I'm not fighting—" Natsume started.

"Terms—" the hazel-eyed girl started, giving Natsume the 'Shut Up' glance, "—I suppose you want me to join your crew if you win?"

Natsume sighed, "I'm telling you, I'm _not_ going to do this."

The girl placed a hand on her hip and in a mocking tone replied, "The big bad daddy's boy is _scared_?"

Natsume glared at her, "Who told you I was a captain's son?"

"Nobody. You did—just now. I was just guessing by appearance," she replied, shrugging a shoulder. "Which ship?"

"The _Lunar Eclipse_," he glowered. This girl knew how to get a person to talk.

The widening of the girl's hazel eyes did not go past him. She seemed to be deep in thought for a second, but then grinned like the Devil himself. She was up to something.

"Interesting… So it's Natsume Hyuuga, right?" she said, walking up close to him, so that they were chest to chest, face to face, "Are you still in? I am willing to make a proposition…"

Natsume raised an eyebrow, "I'm listening."

"If you win the fight, I will join your crew, _and_ do whatever you say for an entire week," she said, grabbing Natsume's attention. "But if _I_ win, I will ask for one, single thing."

"What's that?" he asked, leaning closer to her.

"Lose the match, and find out," she said, leaning even closer.

"You're on," he replied, leaning in.

"Great," she said, pulling away.

Natsume shook his head, "This'll be easy."

The girl started to stretch her calves. She spread her feet apart, and bending over on each side to touch them, stretching her muscles in the process. The girl did not notice all of the attention she grabbed from the several beings in the bar. Once she finished stretching, she noticed Natsume's gaze and she frowned.

"Stop staring, pervert," she said, stepping into the empty space that was cleared of tables by the people occupying them. "And _bring it on_."

Natsume smirked, "You asked for it, Polka Dots."

The girl's face turned beet red, "You pervert!"

She ran towards him and punched him straight in the jaw. He wavered, and took a couple of steps back, but regained his composure. He scowled and ran towards her and swung his fist, but she was too fast. She jumped into the air, landing on the table behind her, throwing playing cards everywhere. She did not look the least bit intimidated. Natsume's patience was wearing thin. He was just going to end it quick.

He ran towards the table and jumped at the girl. She was taken aback was he plowed into her, then crashing into a wine bottle stand, sending glass crashing and breaking everywhere. She didn't notice her awkward position until he was breathing into her ear. She shoved him off her and leaned back on her elbow, wincing in pain. She had just thrust her elbow and arm into a pile of broken glass and wine. She flinched as she lifted up her arm. The wine had touched the wound and it was stinging.

She made a face as she got up. Natsume did the same. She frowned when she realized that all he got away with was a cut on his cheek and a bit of a bloody lip. For some strange reason, she thought it suited him. She had always liked a rebel—though she was very meticulous with which ones could pass for her type. She shook the thoughts away. This was not the time. She wanted to end this—quick.

She saw Natsume walking towards her, keeping a steady pace. He stopped in front of her, glancing at her wounded arm.

"Why don't we just end this?" he said, wiping his bloodied lip.

As the girl panted, she smiled a devious smile, "Sure."

"You asked for it," Natsume said. He snapped his fingers and in a second, there was a ring of fire around the brunette. She was very surprised at first, but she wasn't scared.

"Is that all you've got?" she snarled. "I've seen dogs tougher than you—but then again, you _are_ one."

Natsume was angry—no, _furious_, "Shut up and stop talking like you know me."

"I will when you do," she replied, anger flashing in her eyes. "Or do you need Daddy's orders for that, too?"

Natsume snapped and he lost control. The ring of fire he made blew up into flames and the girl was engulfed in them. Everyone in the bar put down their money for Natsume. He definitely won the fight—that girl was a clear goner. At least, that's what everyone _thought_.

A small light flashed and there was a gust of wind. As the girl who was engulfed in flames just a second ago emerged unharmed. She was kneeling on the ground with one knee with both of her hands touching the floor. She had her eyes shut gently, and her expression held that of great concentration. The gust of wind she caused made her hair flow with it, and as it faded away, it settled down on her shoulders. She opened her eyes and got up, slowly. She looked tired.

"Big mistake," she whispered furiously.

Her fist snapped forward towards his jaw, but he caught it with his hand. She scowled and pulled her hand away bring her knee up to hit him below the belt. She grinned when he went down. To finish it off, she punched him in the jaw, sending him flying to the ground. She walked up to him and held a finger to his chest.

"One... Two," she said, leaning towards is face. "Three... I win."

Natsume growled, "I _hardly_ call that a win." He got up, towering over her, pain twisted in his features.

"But, it is a win, nonetheless," she said, smirking.

Natsume fumed, "I don't give a damn anymore. I never intended to hit a girl, anyways. What the hell do you want?"

The girl grinned, "Looks like I'm not the only one with a pretty mouth." She stood _very_ close to him and played with the collar of his shirt. "How about you let me kiss it?"

Before he had a chance to answer, she stood on their tip toes and captured his lips with hers. She closed her eyes and melted into the kiss. After a moment, Natsume realized what she was doing and he kissed her back. For a few minutes, they were standing there, passionately kissing while the men in the background wolf whistled and snickered. The girl started the kiss, and she had to end it. She opened her eyes and pulled back. She smirked as she pushed his hair back from his eyes.

"Pity," she said. "You're such a good kisser; you would've been fun to be on a crew with." She traced the bridge of his nose with her forefinger, teasing him. "You have beautiful eyes, too. Too bad you lost."

"Why did you kiss me?" Natsume asked, raising his eyebrows. "I thought I was _vulgar._"

"Because," she said. "I can."

She ran her hand down the length of his arm and she began to back away, holding his hand until she was too far to hold it, letting go with the last touch of her fingers. She blew him a kiss and began to walk straight out of the pub.

"Nice meeting you, _Natsume_," she said, and she walked away.

Natsume was left dumbfounded. That was _some_ girl.

**. . .**

The brunette walked down an alley, leaning against the wall, and clutching her arm. Sure, she put on a pretty show, but she was in pain. This was not going to help the slightest bit. She should have known not to get too carried away. There were still so many places she had to go and she had to do it all on foot. She had lost her best friend long ago, to a pirate crew like Natsume's. She said that she wanted to travel the world for money, and bring a pirate was the best way to do it. The girl was devastated, but wished her friend the best of luck. After all, friends are there to support your dreams.

The girl was in search of something. She knew she wanted to see her friend, but what was the point when she knew that she wouldn't care? Her friend wouldn't give up her dreams, and she didn't want her to. No, the girl wasn't in search of her best friend, but a certain treasure. She longed to find it to set things right. It was her dream, alongside becoming a pirate. She wanted to become a pirate, yes, but not because she wanted the money. She wanted to be free—that's why she ran away from her home. Nobody would care, though. She had no family to speak of back there. She didn't even know how she lost her parents. There were rumors, but she refused to believe them.

None of the pirate crews she met, though, are what she had in mind. She wanted a crew where she would be welcomed, well, as a member _of_ the crew, and not just some prize to be won. She was known as the _Fallen_ _Angel_. She was beautiful and flawless, just like an angel, but she appeared to have a broken past. Her natural beauty was only an addition to the strength the girl held. As you would have it, she always seemed to escape from everything. She was hard to get and keep.

The girl felt the blood loss getting to her. Her eyes began to droop and she felt extremely weakened. There was nothing left for her to do but to pass out and hope she wakes up in the morning. She had nothing to tie her wound up with and she didn't want to yank out the glass. It would just make it bleed more. She was getting quite sick of this—running around with nowhere to go back to. She was a drifter, all right. She never stayed in a town for more than three days tops and she was here for two already. The girl sighed as she started to drift off into blackness, that is, until she heard voices.

"Look at her," a deep voice said. "She's a pretty one."

"I bet she would sell for a fortune," another said.

"We're going to sell her?" yet one more said. "I thought we could have a _bit_ of fun with her."

"She doesn't look like the type to fight back," the first said. "We could just mess around with her."

The girl's eyes snapped straight open. She saw four men talking. They looked like street thugs. She probably could take them, if she weren't in the condition she was in now. She got up and tried to look as unbroken as possible. She had a low tolerance for blood loss, so it was a bit of a challenge.

"Who's going to be playing around with me?" she asked.

"Look," the blonde smirked. "Girly's awake."

. . .

Natsume Hyuuga walked down the empty streets of the town. He was holding an expression of fury. He couldn't _believe_ he just got his arse kicked by a girl—the exact one he was supposed to get, but he scared her away. What was he supposed to do now? His father is going to murder him! He stopped in the middle of the road as he remembered something—he didn't even get the girl's name. What was so special about her, again? She didn't seem too smart, or ladylike. She looked nothing like the ladies do. Instead of dresses, petticoats, and corsets, she wore shorts, boots, and shirts that don't even cover her stomach. Suddenly, the scene of her emerging from the flames her started flashing in his head.

"Stupid idiot," he growled to himself. He then looked at his surroundings and found that he had no idea where the heck he was, until he saw the moon shining in the sky, which showed that the dock wasn't too far. He should get back to the ship.

He heard a bunch of voices. They sounded like a group of men around in their twenties. He looked around and found a couple of them running out of an alley, shouting at someone.

"Hey! Get her leg! She totally kicked me!"

"Yeah, yeah! And get her other arm!"

They laughed as they watched whatever was happening down that alleyway. Curious, Natsume turned his head to look into it. His eyes widened when she saw that two men were beating up a girl. The two standing outside the alleyway caught him staring, and glared at him.

"What are you looking at, punk?" one said. "You got a death wish?"

He smirked menacingly, "Who are you sick-minded retards to find pleasure in beating up some girl?"

The one who spoke up fumed, "Why you—"

He threw a punch straight for his face, but Natsume grabbed his arm, and twisted it behind his back, earning a yelp from the man. He twisted it harder, just to get him scared.

"Now, before I break your arm, _run_," Natsume ordered.

The man nodded, and as soon as Natsume let go of his arm, he ran at the speed of light. Natsume shot a glare at the other, and mouthed, _get lost_. The coward immediately sprinted in the same direction the other went. Natsume enjoyed a second's moment of victory, but then became serious again, running into the alleyway to beat up the other two goons.

As he ran down the dark pathway, he found himself inhaling a strong smell of rust and salt. _Blood_. He couldn't help but think what these idiots did to that girl already. As he reached the end, he found two huge men beating up a small, fragile-looking girl. His anger skyrocketed.

"—and you'd _better_ think again before I _kill_ you," the blonde said, holding a blade to the girl's neck, threatening her by slicing her pale skin just so that it started to bleed.

"Oi," Natsume spoke up. "You want to stop that?"

The blonde spun around, glaring at Natsume, but then laughed, "I suggest you go away, before we both come at ya."

Natsume smirked, but in all seriousness said, "Bring it."

A raging fight scene broke out. Natsume didn't have any weapons to fight with because he didn't think he would be in a fight, but that didn't faze him. He knew how to win a fight without the needs of futile weaponry. Of course, all they had were a couple of daggers, and for Natsume, that was easy to get around. Punches and kicks were thrown and the girl was all but forgotten, slumping on the wall, beaten and weak. Natsume quickly disposed of the two hooligans, and tried to catch his breath. For some street thugs, they put up a good fight.

Natsume walked over to the girl, and knelt down beside her. She was beaten up pretty bad. He brushed some of the hair covering her face away. His eyes widened when he saw that it was _the_ girl—the girl he saw at the pub. What was she doing here? She could've beaten up these guys in a heartbeat from what he saw her do. Or was that all a façade? Natsume scrutinized her for injuries. She had plenty. She had slashes and bruises all over her body. If he didn't do something quick, she would most likely die.

Natsume put a hand to her cheek and felt its iciness. She was freezing—how long had she been here? But more importantly—what should he do? He thought about it. If he left her right now, and ignored the fact that he ever met her—he could get away with telling his father that he had found her, fainted in an alleyway and injured and that she was absolutely no use.

_But_, if he carried her back to the ship now, he could save her _and_ he could get her on the crew. He smirked as he placed a gentle hand on the nape of her neck, and the other under her legs. He hoisted her up and held her close to him so that her head leaned on his shoulder and her injured arm fell limp against his chest.

Suddenly, the girl stirred in her arms, and turned her head to look up at Natsume. She squinted her eyes, and was about to say something when she fainted completely. Natsume tried to hurry back to the ship. The ship doctor would fix her up in no time. He took some shortcuts to get to the dock faster. As he approached the dock, he saw that the Captain's Quarters were lit up. His father was back. The night sky was dark aside from the moon. The torches on the ship were the only light he saw. They gave off a dim, but warm glow. He looked at the ship and saw his friend, Luca Nogi, sitting on its edge, waiting for him. He raised his blonde eyebrows and his blue eyes caught sight of the girl in Natsume's arms. Natsume walked onto the ship and approached Luca.

"I don't think your father wanted her dead, Natsume," Luca said nervously.

"She's not dead," Natsume retorted. "She just got beat up by some idiots in an alleyway where I saved her."

"Yeah…" Luca said. "Um, I'm pretty sure your father didn't want that either."

"Look," Natsume said. "It wasn't my fault. This stupid girl did it herself."

"Stupid girl?" Luca asked. "What? Did she do something to you?"

"Nothing," Natsume scoffed. "She did absolutely nothing. She wouldn't even listen to me!"

"I'm afraid you can't charm every girl that comes your way, Natsume," Luca laughed.

"This idiot cannot be charmed," Natsume informed. "It's nearly impossible."

"So you tried…" Luca said with a smug smile.

Natsume glowered at him, "I didn't say that. Besides, I don't charm _every _girl that comes my way. Only the ones I need to."

"Which explains why you've never had a girlfriend," Luca said stoically, watching Natsume's expressions change. It was quite amusing.

"Shut it, Luca," Natsume growled.

"What's going on up here?"

Natsume and Luca turned around to face the captain, namely, Natsume's father. Natsume was exactly like his father except for the attitude. Natsume was much more distant and cold. Luca immediately stiffened when he saw the captain. He didn't want to get into trouble for their new crew member's condition. Captain Hyuuga looked squarely at Natsume before gasping when he saw the girl in his arms.

"What in the name of—"

"Dad, relax," Natsume said. "She's going to be fine."

"Fine?!" he bellowed. "Get that girl down to the infirmary cabin, _now_!"

"Didn't I tell you she was going to be fine?" Natsume snapped at his father. He turned his attention to Luca. "Go get Tobita, and bring him to the infirmary cabin."

"Fine," Luca agreed. "But you have to start bandaging her up while I go find him."

"Whatever," Natsume said, running on below deck to the cabins.

"What am I going to do with him?" Captain Hyuuga said, rubbing his temples and walking back to his quarters.

**. . .**

Natsume gently set her down on one of the beds in the infirmary cabin. He opened a cabinet and took out some disinfectants and bandages. As soon as he got everything set up, Tobita and Luca walked in. Yuu Tobita was the ship's doctor. He was seventeen, which was the same age of Natsume, Luca and others on the ship. It was probably the age of the injured girl, by the looks of it, too. Natsume watched as Tobita's eyes widened by the very sight of the girl.

"What _happened_?" he said, incredulously, his glasses slipping from his nose.

"I'll explain later," Natsume said. "Just fix her up to get the captain off my back."

Tobita started to cleanse the girl's wounds.

"I see you've managed to get the _Fallen Angel_," Tobita congratulated. "Good job. Everyone thought you weren't going to be able to get her."

"_Fallen Angel_?" Natsume asked, raising an eyebrow. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Tobita shrugged, "She's intoxicatingly beautiful, but they say she has a broken past."

Natsume immediately turned his gaze to the sleeping girl. She _was_ intoxicatingly beautiful, but boy, can she get on his _nerves_. Whenever she talks, a vein throbs in his forehead. She made him furious every second he was with her. But what was this of a broken past? What could have happened to her that is so bad, that caused her to receive such a name? The girl was capturing more of his attention than he intended to give away. He snapped out of his thoughts as Luca called his name.

"Natsume!" Luca said.

Natsume looked at Luca, "What?"

"Why were you staring at her like that?" Luca asked.

"Like what?" Natsume questioned.

"You know what I mean," Luca said, smirking.

"Tch," Natsume said. "Who would stare at someone as ugly as her?"

"Why don't you guys just head up on deck? You could inform the captain to leave the port and get going," Tobita suggested.

"Okay," Luca said. "That sounds good."

"We can't," Natsume said begrudgingly. "She didn't agree to come with us, yet."

"Then why did you bring her here?" Luca asked.

"She would've died if I didn't," Natsume replied blandly.

"That's true," Luca said. "But we need to tell the captain nonetheless. She can decide tomorrow, if she wakes up, whether or not she wants to stay."

"That seems plausible to me," Tobita replied.

"Then it's settled," Luca said. "Come on, Natsume. Let's go."

"Whatever," Natsume feigned ignorance.

What he was really feeling? He was actually worried. What if that girl finds out that it was him who saved him? She already hated his guts. He had a strong feeling she was just going to get up and leave tomorrow morning, even if he didn't tell Luca and Tobita. Thinking ahead, he ran past Luca and straight to the Captain's Quarters.

"Natsume—hey!" Luca yelled, running after him.

Natsume reached the Captain's Quarters first and threw the door open. He was always a faster runner than Luca.

"Dad?" Natsume said, breathing heavily.

Captain Hyuuga looked up from his desk, "Thank you for breaking down my door, Natsume. _Again_." He gave Natsume a stern look. "Now what is it that you want?"

"We are ready to leave port," Natsume informed. "Everything is set."

Captain Hyuuga grinned, "Excellent. Get Tsubasa Ando on the wheel."

Natsume nodded, and left the room. The deed was done. He wasn't sure if he did the right thing or he just made a huge mistake. He closed the door behind him to see Luca staring at him, wide eyed.

"You didn't…" Luca said. Natsume didn't reply, but just walked past him. "But, Natsume, we don't even have her permission!"

"Get Koko, Kitsuneme, and the others to help you on the sails," Natsume replied. "I'm going to get Ando."

Luca sighed figuring there was nothing he could do about it now, "Fine. I just hope you know what you're doing."

_I do, too_, Natsume thought.

* * *

**Whoa. Done. Well, I hope you like the revised version better. She was kidnapped! When I read the older version, I nearly killed myself. It was terrible. I hope you like this better.**

**Reviews are love.**

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	2. The Ocean

**Here I am. Enjoy. :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice or any of its characters.**

**Happy Reading!**

* * *

**Stepping Out Of The Shadows**

**By Tsuki's Angel**

**~Chapter 2~**

**-The Ocean-**

* * *

An amethyst eyed girl stood on the deck. Her short, choppy, black hair blew with the brisk wind. She shook her head as her boyfriend, Luca, told her that Natsume had just basically kidnapped some girl the captain ordered him to find.

"What do you think, Hotaru?" Luca asked as he leaned on the ship's edge.

"I think Hyuuga is a damn idiot," she said coldly and without emotion.

Luca sighed, "Hotaru, you know that's not what I asked. I'm serious. Natsume seemed pretty pissed to bring her here. What if she's a serial killer?"

"I doubt it," Hotaru said, leaning on the edge with him. "She would have probably killed those attackers that caught her in the first place."

"Yeah," he agreed. "You're probably right. He wouldn't bring a serial killer on the ship anyways."

"Yeah," she said quickly. "I'm just _dying_ to see how she will react when she wakes up and she finds out."

"I'm not," Luca replied hastily. "I'd rather be as far away as possible. Maybe I'll just hang out on the crow's nest with Mochu for a bit…"

"Chicken," Hotaru said bluntly.

"Hey," he said. "If you want to get hurt, be my guest."

"I'm not going to get hurt," she said, turning to face him with an impish grin. "I'm _me_."

Luca grinned, pulled her body close to his, and whispered, "You're right," before chastely kissing her.

Hotaru pulled back, "I always am."

**. . .**

Back at the infirmary cabin, an injured girl woke up. She blinked her hazel eyes, once, twice, before taking in her surroundings. She had a massive headache from last night's events. She groaned as she slowly propped herself up on one elbow, wincing in pain at her arm, side, and well, _everywhere._

"What in the name of…" she said as she ran her good arm through her auburn hair.

It took her a second to realize it, but she was in a _room_, and not in an alley, like she thought she was going to wake up in. Her head pounded as she tried to remember what exactly _happened_ the other night. As her memories played through her head, she began to think straighter. She remembered being in the arms of a man. Then it clicked in her head. That man was Natsume Hyuuga. She was going to acknowledge him when he picked her up, but she immediately fainted.

She looked around the room and then at her torso. It was wrapped in white gauze, but the purple bruises that did not manage to be wrapped under gauze remained clearly visible. The arm that got wounded by the wine bottles was wrapped up, too. It was no longer stinging. She was entirely grateful to whoever had helped her, and she was also a bit relieved she did not have to be stripped of her shirt to be treated, since it ended right underneath her chest. If she met whoever that helped her, she would thank them.

She suddenly remembered the fact that she had no idea where the heck she was sitting. The room had but one round window, which the sun shone brightly through. The girl slowly helped herself up and off the bed, biting her lip all the way, trying to ignore the stings. She could walk fine. It was just the getting up that was a bit painful. Once she was up, she left the room immediately, gasping when she realized where she was. _She was on a pirate ship_.

Her eyes widened as she put two and two together. That man, Natsume. _He_ brought her on this ship. He wanted her on his father's crew. He brought her here. She looked around frantically, trying to remember her logic of ships. Relying only on instinct, she ran left. She arrived shortly at some stairs that seemed to lead to the main deck. _Thank goodness_, she thought. As soon as she ran onto deck, she saw several working men. The noticed her as soon as she was up there, and all attention was on her. Most of them looked perplexed.

"For the love of…" she whispered.

The men had stopped working and started talking about her. They looked as if they were incredulous to her being there. The girl stopped and wondered why she was brought here in the first place. There was no way that this crew needed her for any reason whatsoever. They looked like they could handle anything. The crew was full of tall, strong men.

The girl sucked in a deep breath and continued to walk forward. She managed to catch the attention of most of the crew members. Maybe she could catch the attention of _Natsume_, so she can knock him out. Now that she thought of it, she would ask him to drop her off at next port, and _then_ beat him up. She planned out her revenge, seething with rage at the guy she saw for the first time tonight. Why did he have such an interest in her anyways? He didn't even know her name. She stopped in the middle of the deck and looked around for that familiar face.

"I see you're finally awake, _Polka_."

The girl was startled by the sudden deep voice in her ear. She spun around quickly and glared right into Natsume's crimson eyes. She clenched her teeth as she fought the urge to slap him before she asked her questions.

"Yes," she said through her teeth. "I am."

He smirked, "Heh, what are you doing out here? You should be in the infirmary cabin resting, like you were after I _saved_ you."

She laughed and smiled innocently, "Let's not forget who got their arse kicked at the bar fight."

His smile faltered, "Tch. I let you win."

She rolled her eyes, "Sure. Whatever floats your boat. And speaking of boats," she said, crossing her arms and leaning on one foot, "What the hell am I doing on yours?"

He shrugged, "You're on our crew now. Suck it up."

She fumed, and grabbed the collar of his completely unbuttoned black shirt, and brought his face down to hers, "You listen here, _Natsume Hyuuga_, I never agreed to join your damn crew and I suggest you drop me off at the next port, or there _will_ be trouble."

"Hn," came his boring reply. "What trouble can _you_ possibly cause? You couldn't even fight off a couple of thugs."

Her eyes flashed as she let go of him, "Don't you dare talk about me like you know me!"

Her outburst caught the attention of the crew once again. This time, everything was completely silent. She didn't know what came over her.

"I didn't," he replied, fixing his shirt. "I was just wondering why the _Fallen_ _Angel_ couldn't do a task as simple as that."

She didn't yell but quietly replied, "You don't always live up to the name that others put on you."

"Then what name do you live up to?"

The arguing pair averted their attention to the new voice. Natsume was surprised to see that it was his father, the captain, whom had showed up. Captain Hyuuga had an air of importance around him. The girl stared at him, wide-eyed. For a second there, she thought she had just seen another Natsume. That would not have been pleasing.

"Natsume," the captain's voice boomed. "Meet me in my quarters immediately. And bring her along with you."

Natsume reluctantly nodded as the captain left, and stared at the girl who had caused his father to have to come out on deck. He glared at her and she glared right back. The other crew members snickered at the two.

"Oi, Natsume!"

Natsume tore his gaze away from the girl and to the crow's nest where he found Mochu and Luca. He raised an eyebrow, but they shook their heads and pointed towards the quarter deck where there stood a man with messy black hair and a small star tattoo beneath his left eye. He grinned as he called someone to take the wheel and ran over to Natsume.

"Who's the pretty lady?" he asked, snickering at Natsume's angry face.

"I don't know her name," he snapped. "Ask her yourself, Ando. I doubt she'll tell you."

He smiled, "Sure. I'll give it a shot." He turned to the 'pretty lady'. "Name's Tsubasa Ando. Nice to meet'cha."

The girl smiled at his kind atmosphere and giggled a bit, "Nice to meet you."

Natsume stood incredulous. Did she just _giggle_? What was the sudden change in attitude? This girl was seriously bipolar, or _something_.

"May I be so forward as to ask for your name?" he asked being jokingly formal.

The girl laughed again, "Mikan. Mikan Sakura. I'm glad that _someone_ on this ship has some manners."

"What? And I don't?" Natsume retorted.

"I never said that you didn't," Mikan smirked.

Tsubasa smirked at Natsume, who was trying his best to conceal his pure anger and hatred towards _Mikan_. Even _if_ Natsume had kidnapped her, she should at least be thankful that he didn't let her die. Natsume caught Tsubasa smirking at him, and he glared back at him. Tsubasa held up his hands in defense.

"Calm down," Tsubasa teased. "She just told me her name."

"Tch," he replied bluntly. He took Mikan's arm. "We need to go."

"Hey! Ouch!" Mikan complained as Natsume dragged her to the captain's quarters. Once they got there, she yanked her arm away, "What is your _problem_?"

"You," he stated simply. "Now follow me."

Natsume opened the door to the captain's quarters and stepped inside. Mikan did as she was told and followed him. The captain was sitting at his desk, looking over a map. He looked deep in thought as they approached. Mikan took a good look around and saw that the wall were lined and covered in bookshelves holding many different kinds of books. The room was quite large, equipped with a research center, where there was a globe and maps of all sorts. There was a large world map pinned right above the research center, which had many pins showing different locations. They must be some pretty rich pirates to afford all of this. Most pirate ships barely have any of this stuff.

The captain looked up from his work, "Ah, Natsume. Please, shut the door behind you."

"You wanted to see us?" Natsume said, taking a seat on one of the two clubs chairs in front of his desk.

"Obviously," Mikan muttered, earning a glare from Natsume as she sat down on the other chair.

"I would still like to have an answer to my earlier question," the captain said, folding his hands in front of him. "Would you tell me your name?"

Natsume spoke before Mikan had the chance to, "Her name's Mikan Sakura."

The captain pondered this, "Sakura?"

"Yeah," Natsume said, slouching in his chair.

"I see," the captain said. He turned to Mikan, "And you must be wondering why you are on this ship, am I correct?"

"More like wondering why I was kidnap—"

Natsume's hand clamped over her mouth, rendering her speechless. He pushed her head back against the chair and said, "Excuse us for a moment," to his father. Once again, he grabbed her arm and dragged her away. He stepped out of the captain's quarters, backing Mikan up against a wall, holding her arms against it with one hand and the other over her mouth. They spoke in hushed whispers.

"Mmf!" she squealed. "Mmf!"

"You almost told him," he snapped, taking his hand off her mouth. "My father doesn't know that I kidnapped you."

"So you admit it," she said, glaring at him. "You admit that you brought me here against my will."

"You would've _died_ if I hadn't saved you," he retorted. "You should be thanking me."

"I would if you weren't such an arrogant retard," she glowered. "Why do you even want me on this ship?"

"Tch, as if I know," he said, letting go of her. He turned his back to Mikan. "My father just told me to get you on our crew."

"So that's your only excuse?" she countered. "Your _father_ told you to?"

"It's not an excuse, Polka," he said.

She walked towards him, "Stop calling me that."

"That's not going to happen," he said.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps walking towards them. Natsume turned around and tensed as he found out it was Narumi Anjo, the co-captain. He looked at Mikan and then back at Narumi. Quickly, to send him off, Natsume pushed Mikan back up against the wall again and kissed Mikan. Mikan's eyes turned into saucers as she realized what was happening. She found herself unable to move and melted into the kiss. Natsume smirked against her lips as she kissed him back. Mikan ignored him and just played along. She figured out he was only doing this to get whoever that was walking down the hallway off their back.

"Natsume? Is that you? I heard someone—oh, my," Narumi said as he caught sight of the two teenagers. He cleared his throat, making Natsume stop was he was doing to a very dazed Mikan, "Sorry to interrupt this love fest, but I have to meet with the captain, as I heard you do."

Mikan shook her head, "Yeah. We'll be there in a second."

Narumi nodded as he entered the captain's quarters, leaving them alone once again. Natsume turned his attention back to Mikan as she raised an eyebrow at him.

"What was the point of that?" she asked. "He went into the captain's quarters anyways."

"I was hoping he would leave, so I didn't have to face him," he replied.

"Well, that was just a waste of time, then," she said bluntly.

Natsume smirked, "I wouldn't say it was a _complete_ waste of time."

"Oh _shut up_," she said. "You sound so full of yourself."

"I don't care," he said.

"'_I don't care_' is never the answer," she retorted. "What did you bring me out here to talk about, anyways? Oh yeah—the issue of you _kidnapping_ me!"

"Ssh!" Natsume hushed. "Can you speak any louder?"

"Try me," Mikan threatened.

"Listen, just don't tell my father that I kidnapped you, okay?" he said briskly.

"Why should I listen to you?" she asked, not fazing.

"Because my father is the captain of this ship," he glowered. "And if you don't listen to me, I will personally make you my slave and _never_ let you off this ship, got that?"

Mikan blinked, "That's blackmail!"

"I'm just clever," Natsume said, walking back into the quarters.

"Arse," Mikan whispered to herself as she followed him. She made sure he heard, though.

"Glad you're back," the captain said as the two took their seats again.

"Good to be back," Mikan said.

The captain nodded, "Again, I assume you must be wondering why you were kidnapped onto this ship?"

Mikan's jaw dropped, "How did you know that?"

"My co-captain, Narumi Anjo. He has his ways of knowing these things," he answered. "Please don't mind my son, Sakura."

"Oh, I won't," she said, smirking at Natsume's pissed off expression.

"Tell you what," Captain Hyuuga said. "I'm going to make an offer."

Mikan's ear perked up, "I'm listening."

"I know that you want to get off at next port, but that's a day away," the captain explained. "If you don't like the idea of being on the _Lunar Eclipse_ by tomorrow, you may leave, _but_ if you like the idea, then you can stay and you will get your very own cabin."

"I only get a _day_ to decide?" Mikan asked, disbelieving. "How will a _day_ change my mind?"

"A lot can happen in twenty-four hours, Sakura," Captain Hyuuga reasoned.

"I'm not so sure it applies to this particular case," she contradicted.

"Then let me finish my offer. I'm sure it might change your mind," he opposed. "In addition to staying, you become a member of my most trusted crewmates and get a large portion of whatever treasure we set out to find."

Mikan thought over and then smiled at the idea, "I get a _large_ portion?"

"The idiot will do it for money," Natsume mumbled sardonically.

Mikan ignored his rude comment, and started to consider the idea. She had always wanted to become a pirate, and not was a big chance. Most pirate ships only wanted her on their crew because of her status as being able to beat up anyone who blocks her path. She was starting to think that Captain Hyuuga actually wanted her to be on his ship as an actual member of the crew. She liked the idea very much. The fact that this one decision could help her be one step closer to the treasure she was searching for brightened her day.

"Yes," Captain Hyuuga said. "You'd be part of the best pirate crew in the entire world."

"I just might have to take you up on that offer," Mikan said. "But I can easily change my mind, y'know."

"Excellent," Captain Hyuuga said. "Welcome aboard."

"Ah," Mikan said. "You can tell me that if I agree to stay."

The captain nodded, "Narumi—" he said getting up to face his co-captain. "—I expect _everyone_ to be down at the pub in less than ten minutes."

"Aye, captain," Narumi said, leaving the room to announce to everyone.

"Sakura, you may join us if you please, but for now, explore the ship, or meet down at the pub," Captain Hyuuga said to Mikan. Mikan nodded and left the room. The captain turned to Natsume. "Natsume, I need to have a word with you."

"What did I do now?" Natsume said, peeved.

"I will let this kidnapping incident slide, young man, but now _you_ have to make sure she likes it on this ship," the captain ordered.

"That's impossible," Natsume said. "I hate her, and she hates me."

"Then why were you kissing her outside my quarters?" the captain questioned.

"Tch," Natsume said. "I had to get Naru off my back."

Captain Hyuuga shook his head, "Back to what I was going to talk to you about—the girl."

"Yeah—what's so special about her anyways? She's loud and annoying," Natsume retorted.

"She's the _key_, Natsume," he said. "The key to finding _Alicinia_."

Natsume guffawed, "That's just a myth—a legend."

Captain Hyuuga shook his head, "No, it's not. I've been working on this for about a year now, and have found that it very much exists, but it's hidden much too well. It was found only once by legendary pirates and lost ever since then."

"Fine," Natsume said. "Say it is true. Then how on earth is she the key?"

"Have you ever wondered why they call her the _Fallen Angel_?" the captain asked.

Natsume raised an eyebrow, "'Cause she's supposed to be hot and has a broken past or something?"

The captain nearly slapped his forehead, "It's not as _crude_ as you make it out to be. Natsume, her mother was _Yuka Azumi_, and her father, _Yukihara Izumi_—the very ones who _found_ Alicinia."

Natsume froze at the familiar names, "_What_?"

"Sakura doesn't know about it, though, and she _can't_," the captain said. "I've heard from reliable sources that she has no idea who her parents were. She was left in some village when she was an infant, and she ran away years ago."

"She has no idea her parents are legends?" Natsume asked.

The captain shook his head, "None, whatsoever, but I also heard she's looking for a certain treasure. It's probably the one in Alicinia, but hopefully she doesn't know it yet."

"What are we supposed to do about it?" Natsume said.

"What I'm saying is that she is the _key_," he stressed. "If her parents left _any_ clues about Alicinia, they would leave it with their only daughter. She must know _something_."

"How can she know something? You just said she was ditched at some village," Natsume countered. "Why don't you find her parents? Maybe she can talk to them and get some answers."

"We can't," he replied. "Her parents died shortly after her birth. They left her with an old man they trusted before setting off on another journey, but they never returned. That old man was in the village they left her in, obviously, and if we were to have any leads, I would say we would have to start there."

"Then why don't we?" Natsume asked, slouching again. "All we have to do is go back to that village."

"That also cannot be done," the captain said. "The old man died a while ago, and his house was abandoned. We don't even know what village it was, anyways."

"Tch," Natsume said. "Then you decide what to do."

"I have," the captain replied. "We are going to set out on this mission today. The crew will be informed of the new course for Alicinia, but _will not_ be informed of Sakura's past, who she is, or who her parents are. We need to keep this classified only to my most trusted crew members. Am I understood?"

"Understood," Natsume sighed, getting up.

"Excellent," Captain Hyuuga said. "I will see you down at the pub."

**. . .**

Mikan followed Narumi to the pub, as everyone called it. The pub was basically the lunch room under deck with a bar and a bunch of tables. The room was lit with candles so it wasn't as bright as the deck outdoors. They really _were_ rich pirates. Mikan decided not to join anyone at a table, since she didn't know anyone, and she helped herself to a booth. She waited patiently until she saw Natsume walk in with some man with blonde hair and blue eyes. Natsume looked overcome with something as he sat down at the bar and ordered himself a glass of water. That's when the captain stepped in.

"Settle down! Settle down, everyone!" Narumi's voice called. The crew eventually stopped talking and devoted their attention to the Captain. "The Captain has an extremely important announcement. It has to do with our next goal. We will be setting sail to a new direction for the start of a new adventure is among us!" Narumi motioned the Captain to start his talking. Mikan listened carefully as the Captain's booming voice filled the room.

"Listen up, mates. Our newest destination is Alicinia," he stated.

The pub was immediately filled with murmurs. Mikan heard of Alicinia before. It was the legendary remote island that was said to hold mountains of gold, silver, jewels, and any other form of riches. It was said to have only been found once by legendary pirates who mysteriously died right after they came back from their journey. Actually, it was the _exact_ treasure she was looking for. She smirked as she found another reason to stay aboard the _Lunar Eclipse_.

"Isn't that a _myth_?" someone blurted out.

"I can assure you that Alicinia is no myth. It is as real as you and I, and we are to hunt it down. After all, we aren't the world's best pirates for nothing. Getting to the point, we must be setting a new course. We cannot directly go to Alicinia, of course. We must go through a great deal before even thinking about that. Firstly, we are to go to Cape Cross," the captain said, pacing slowly.

Mikan's eyes widened. She didn't think it's such a good idea to go to Cape Cross. The place just gave her the shivers. She didn't know why, but she had a very, very vague memory of the place, even though she was sure she had never stepped foot there.

"I will be sending out certain members of our crew to gather the information that we need. At Cape Cross, we will be acquiring a certain heirloom. This heirloom is a music box. It is not the music that we need, though, it is what is _inside_. What is inside? I do not have a clue. What I _do_ know is that it is _one_ of the keys to finding Alicinia. So it is vital," he said, still pacing the room.

Mikan noticed that Captain Hyuuga _did_ look a lot like Natsume. They both had the same ruby red eyes and jet black hair. She heard something about a music box, and wondered what could be inside it.

"At the moment, I would like to see the following people in my Quarters as for the moment – Ogasawara, Shouda, Nogi, Yome, Imai, Natsume, Umenomiya, Tobita, Ando, Mochiage, and Kitsuneme. Thank you and that will be all as of now. I will be making another announcement as soon as we find a direction as to where we are heading," the Captain said, finishing up his little speech. He was about to leave, but then stopped to say something. "Oh and before I go, I would also like to see Sakura in my quarters. Thank you. You are dismissed." Then he left.

Mikan sat there, confused. What did he need her in his quarters for again? She heard a bunch of people murmur, "Who is Sakura?" but she decided to ignore it. What really caught her attention was the name _Imai_. Could it have been Hotaru Imai, her best friend whom she had lost years ago? She dared to hope, but was hesitant about going there, not wanting to be disappointed. As the pub started to clear, she got up reluctantly and trudged her way over to Captain Hyuuga's quarters. Once she reached there, she took a deep breath and knocked.

"Come in," Narumi's voice said.

Mikan slowly opened the door. Everyone that he called was already there. She looked around for a familiar face—Hotaru's face—but couldn't find it. All she found was Natsume and Tsubasa's face as the only familiar faces. Natsume was disappointing. She shut the door behind her gently as a room full of strangers stared at her for what seemed like eternity. Captain Hyuuga beckoned Mikan to come stand by his side and she did so, ignoring the stares stabbing into her back.

"Sakura, the people you see before you are my most trusted crew members," he said, motioning to everyone.

"Hello," Mikan said.

"This is Mikan Sakura, everyone," Captain Hyuuga said. "I would like her to be treated as a member of the crew, and nothing less."

Mikan sat down on a nearby chair as the captain introduced the crew to her.

"This is Sumire Shouda and Nonoko Ogasawara," the captain said. Mikan was actually calmed by the fact that she was not the only girl on the ship. She stared at the girl with greenish hair. She looked like she had gotten a really bad perm. The other looked calm and smiled brightly. "Shouda and Ogasawara are the map makers of the ship. They are superbly skilled in direction and we never lost sight of a treasure with them here."

"We can call you Mikan, right?" Nonoko asked.

Mikan nodded, "As long as I can call you Nonoko."

"Sure thing," she giggled.

"You can just call me Sumire," Permy said.

Mikan smiled, "Okay."

"Moving on," the captain said. "Mochiage, Kokoro Yome, and Kitsuneme are my mission planners. They do quite well at their job, telling us what we have to do to accomplish our goal. Tsubasa Ando, Luca Nogi, and Natsume are my most skilled fighters and treasure hunters. They've been through a lot these past years, but they toughed it out." Mikan stared at them as she tried to remember all of their names.

"You can just call me Koko, and him Mochu," Koko said all of a sudden. "It's what everyone does."

"Yuu Tobita is the ship's doctor," the captain pointed to a boy in glasses.

"I'm the one who helped you last night," Tobita said sheepishly. "I hope I did an okay job."

Mikan blinked in recognition, "Oh! I've wanted to thank you. You did a great job. I must've been a mess when you found me."

"Not the best case I've seen," he said.

"Anna Umenomiya is the chef here," the captain hurried along. "She's trustworthy and kind."

Anna blushed and her bubblegum pink hair stood out. Mikan wanted to say something, but the captain hurried along to introduce the last person.

"I wanted to introduce my weapon's master, but she seems to not be here—" the captain started before the door was thrown open.

Everyone's attention was turned to the girl with the jet black hair and keen eyes. Mikan's eyes widened. _It is her_, she thought, _Hotaru is on this ship_. Hotaru Imai looked at the crew and her eyes stopped dead on Mikan, who was staring right back at her. If you paid close enough attention, you could see that her amethyst eyes widened a fraction of an inch. Everything was silent until she spoke up.

"Hotaru Imai," she said. "Weapon's master. Nice to see you again, _Mikan_."

"Ah, good," the captain said. "You two have already met. Now, let's get on with the meeting."

"Then start talking," Kitsuneme snickered. The captain glowered at him for a second before he started to speak.

"I called you all here because out of the entire crew, you are the only ones that are going to know about the classified information that I'm about to give," the captain started. "We are going to Alicinia, yes, but we are also in search for something else, something of much value. She is a person actually."

"_She_? We're looking for a chick?" Koko said, baffled. Permy slapped the back of his head and he shut up. The Captain gave him a look and continued.

"Kokoro, I suggest you keep your hormones under control," the captain said. Everyone snickered. The captain cleared his throat. "Continuing, this girl…she is known as _The Black Faerie_. She is supposed to have wings as black as the night sky, and she's beautiful of course—"

"Sounds hot," Tsubasa interrupted. Mikan rolled her eyes. Won't these boys stop interrupting?

"Tsubasa, _shut up_," Hotaru said. He quieted down, and then spoke up again.

"Why do we need to find her, anyways?" he asked.

"I was getting to that before your crude comment, Ando," the captain said. Tsubasa grinned sheepishly and murmured and apology. "We need to find her because she is another key to finding Alicinia. She is supposed to know all there is to know, and will tell you, but at a price."

"Sounds dangerous," Nonoko said.

"Don't worry, young maiden!" Kitsuneme said, bursting into proud speech out of nowhere. He stood up on the arm of the club chair Natsume was sitting on. "I will protect you!"

Nonoko made a face, "I don't want to die."

Everyone laughed as Kitsuneme fell onto Natsume's lap. Natsume glared at him and shoved him to the ground, where he hit his head. Mikan blinked at what just happened as Kitsuneme rubbed the back of his head. The captain ignored this and moved on.

"Our destination is currently set on Cape Cross. Ogasawara and Shouda will be taking over this meeting as of now to discuss our course," Captain Hyuuga motioned for Nonoko and Permy to the giant map on the wall. They nodded and walked over, both standing on either side of the map.

"This—" Nonoko said, taking out a dagger from her boot, and stabbing it onto the map, "—is Cape Cross. It is approximately two thousand one hundred forty-two miles away from our current position."

"The ship is moving south at a rate of fifty-four point seven miles per hour," Permy continued. "If we change our course to southeast, we should arrive at Cape Cross in thirty-nine point two hours." Mikan was impressed. They figured all of that out in such a short amount of time. They were indeed skilled.

"This past week, Koko, Mochu, and Kitsuneme were all working on the mission plan. They also found out the location of the item we are currently searching for. We have constructed two advanced maps. One of Cape Cross–" Nonoko said, pulling out the dagger and pinning a map of Cape Cross over the current map, "–and one of the Night Tower, where the heirloom is located." Nonoko pulled out a much more discreet map of what she called the Night Tower. Permy took out a pointer and began pointing to the areas we were to go through. She explained that the heirloom was in a heavily guarded room on the top floor of the Tower. Mikan tuned out. She wouldn't need to know any of this. She just arrived on the ship and there was no way the captain was sending her on this mission.

"Now we have no idea how hazardous the dangers will be in Cape Cross, so Hotaru will be taking over and showing what kinds on weapons will be needed," Perms said. Hotaru got up and Permy and Nonoko went back to their spots. Mikan sank back into her chair. Her legs were dangling off one of the arms of the chair and her head was resting on the other. She tuned out for Hotaru, and wondered why Hotaru did acknowledge her, not that she was surprised at all. Hotaru always had trouble expressing her emotions.

"Therefore, I suggest you do not attract much attention," Hotaru finished after a _long_ time.

"Now it's my turn to give orders once again," Captain Hyuuga said, getting up from his desk, "Ando, set the course to southeast. You will be working at the wheel for the rest of the day, and then the night shift is directed towards Natsume. Nogi, you will be taking the shift the next morning. Kokoro, and Kitsuneme, get everything ready and inform the crew members of our new course, and the new course _only_. Everything else is classified." The Captain walked around so that he was standing in front of his desk. "Also, Umenomiya and Tobita. You two are being promoted. You two are both familiar in the inhabitants of Cape Cross, am I correct? You will be informing those who are going about them."

Anna's face lit up, and Yuu looked really happy.

"You are all dismissed," he finished. Mikan sighed. _Thank God_, she thought. Everyone exited the room. Mikan was the first one at the door, when the Captain said, "I hope you were listening, Sakura." She flinched. What does that mean? She shoved the thought away.

**. . .**

Evening approached as Mikan walked down to the pub to get something to drink. She was surprised that her hatred for the ship was dwindling as she grew accustomed to it. She was happy to see that the pub was blissfully empty. It was only her and the bartender—_which was Anna._ Mikan walked over and took a seat on a stool.

"Can I get a glass of water?" Mikan asked.

Anna turned around, "Oh, sure thing. It's Mikan right?"

Mikan nodded, "Yeah. That's me."

"Welcome aboard the _Lunar Eclipse_," Anna said, pouring Mikan's glass of water. "You'll get used to the rowdy guys here."

"I hope," Mikan said, taking a sip of water. "I guess I should be grateful that I'm not the only girl on this ship."

"Yes," Anna agreed. "But you don't see Sumire or Nonoko around here much. They are always doing _something_ for the captain. Either it's working on his maps or charting new courses."

"Wow," Mikan said. "Sounds troublesome."

"It is," Anna sighed. "I worry about them sometimes."

"I think they can handle themselves," Mikan assured.

"I think so, too," Anna agreed, smiling.

Mikan nodded, "Thanks for the water. I'll see you around?"

"Yeah," she said. "See you around."

Mikan was smiling as she left the pub. _I think I made a new friend_, Mikan thought. She walked up the stairs to the main deck, and sighed in content as she saw the stars glistening above. The day had gone by quickly. She talked to some of the crew members and explored the ship. It was pretty big, so it took up a big portion of her time. But mostly, Mikan was looking for Hotaru. She wanted to talk to her, and ask her where she had been for all of these years. Truthfully, the fact that Hotaru was on this ship, made her want to stay even more. She already told the captain she was staying a few hours ago, but right now, all she wanted to do was catch up with Hotaru.

Mikan walked to the ship's edge and stood up on it. She balanced herself and started walking, deep in thought. Mikan suddenly heard the door to the crew's cabins open up. She looked over to the source of the noise and saw none other than the one she was thinking about.

"Hotaru?" Mikan whispered to herself.

Hotaru looked up and grinned, "I see you've found me. Who would've thought you'd end up on the same ship as me?"

Mikan froze, but then jumped off the ledge, "Yeah. I guess things just have a way of working out that way."

Hotaru and Mikan stood face to face and Hotaru spoke up, "Well?"

"I…I've just missed you so much," Mikan said. "It was awful back at the village without you. I ran away a long time ago. Grandpa even died."

"You _ran away_?" Hotaru said skeptically. She shook her head, "You really are an idiot."

"I couldn't take it," Mikan said, looking down. "I was all alone. My parents left me, you left me, and then grandpa left me. I had to get away."

Hotaru's eyes softened, "Are you just going to stand there and cry by yourself, or are you going to hug me?"

Mikan sniffled as she hugged Hotaru. As all of the bitter memories of the village played through her head, she found herself not being able to take any of it. She never understood why her life had to be so hard. Hotaru _chose_ to leave. Mikan had no choice. She was all alone and nobody wanted to take care of her. In the cold, dark, world they lived in, Mikan had very few choices. It was either stay in the village and die, or go out in the world and take a chance. Mikan chose the latter, hoping for a better life. She hadn't seen much of what she was expecting, but she dared to hope.

"Your nose is running," Hotaru said when she looked at Mikan's face after she pulled back.

"I know," Mikan said.

"I should have you know," Hotaru continued. "The captain doesn't let just _anyone_ on this ship. He must have a pretty good reason to have you here."

"What do you mean?" Mikan said. "I'm only here to fight and stuff, right?"

Hotaru shook her head, "I think it's much more complicated. Just be careful."

Mikan nodded, "Okay."

Hotaru smiled a little, "Good. Just don't be stupid and run away again."

"That's mean," Mikan said. "I had no choice."

"You _always_ have a choice," she replied. "I'm heading back to my cabin. It's cold out here."

"I'm going to stay out here a little longer," Mikan said.

Just as she said those words, the door to the crew's cabins opened up again. This time, though, Natsume was the one who walked out. Mikan suddenly remembered that he got the night shift on the wheel. Hotaru was already making her way back to her cabin and Mikan was left alone with Natsume. She stared at him as he gave her a scrutinizing look. She raised an eyebrow and looked away. He shrugged as he ignored her and walked over to the wheel. As he stood there, not talking, Mikan found the silence unbearably uncomfortable. She decided to break it by talking to him, even if he _was_ the most arrogant person on the planet.

"I've always wanted to become a pirate. Ever since I was a little girl," Mikan said getting his attention. He glanced at her, but didn't reply. He just kept staring out into the night, leaning on the wheel. "Do you want to know why?" Mikan asked him. He still didn't say anything. Mikan sighed, "It's because I love the ocean," she finally said. That caught his attention.

"That's it?" he asked.

Mikan shook her head, "There's another reason, but it's a secret," she replied, looking down and smiling.

"Whatever," he said.

Natsume was thinking. He knew very well what the other reason was. It was because of the Alicinia treasure. She was just in it for the money, as were all of the pirates. He glanced at her once again, wondering why she liked the ocean so much.

"Why do you like the ocean so much?" Natsume asked. "It's just a big mass of water."

Mikan shrugged, "Maybe because I've always wanted to be free."

"You've never been freed?" Natsume retorted. "What the hell?"

Mikan glared at him, but continued, "It makes me feel like I can do anything, and that all of the bad things that have happened to me aren't really true at all."

"What bad things?" Natsume asked, interested.

"Hey, Natsume," Mikan said. "Do you know what killed the cat?"

"Tch," Natsume said. "You're the one who brought up the subject, anyways."

"I was just talking to you," Mikan said, walking up on the quarter deck with him. "Jeez."

"Hn," he said.

There was another moment of silence that Mikan decided to interrupt again.

"Do you want to know what else I've always wanted to do?" Mikan asked walking in front of him so he would listen.

"Why are you standing there?" he asked, bored.

"So you will answer my question," she replied. He sighed and shook his head.

"Fine. What is it?" he asked quickly.

"I've always wanted to steer a boat," Mikan deadpanned. He raised his eyebrows.

"In your dreams, Polka," he said. Mikan frowned.

"Well, at least I tried," she said.

Then, Mikan turned around and walked away. She headed back to her new cabin that the captain had shown her earlier. She opened the door and looked at it. It was quaint. There was a single bed in the far corner with a side table that held a candle. There was a desk and one window. Mikan smiled. It was nice. She climbed into bed and she yawned. The feeling was nostalgic. She couldn't think of what she was feeling, though. Maybe she was just happy that she had a place where she didn't have to leave. She found _home_.

* * *

**This is pretty long, eh? Hope you enjoyed. Oh, and check out Rekindled Moroseness's profile for her contest. Voting has started!**

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	3. Fortunes Told

**Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own.**

**Happy Reading!**

* * *

**Stepping Out Of The Shadows**

**By Tsuki's Angel**

**~Chapter 3~**

**-Fortunes Told-**

* * *

"_Mikan…" a voice beckoned._

_A small girl with brown pigtails and large brown eyes turned her head from her spot in the empty hallway, where she was drawing a peculiar picture, to the dusty attic door, which her Grampa forbade her to ever go into._

_An old man appeared from the doorway, "Mikan, what are you doing now? Are you drawing those pictures again?"_

_The man walked up to the little girl to pick up her drawing. He looked at it, and then at the girl, who looked confused as to why he took it away. The man scrutinized the picture, drawn with the charcoal of a burnt stick. It was a strange picture indeed. It was a picture of a woman with wings, who appeared to be dying. She had the most frightening expression on her face. It was quite disturbing coming from a three-year-old. Even though the picture wasn't very well drawn, you could tell exactly what the picture was._

"_Mikan…" the old man started. "How many times have I told you? Don't draw scary pictures like these. They will give you those _awful_—"_

_The little girl knew what he was going to say. She didn't want to hear it. She knew very well. She covered her ears with her hands and curled up into a little ball. She shook her head over and over again._

"_The voices told me to, Grampa," she whimpered, on the verge of tears. "They did. They did."_

_The man stared at the small, shivering child, unable to help her. He didn't know what to do at times like these. He knew very well from the time he found her on his doorstep that she wasn't your average girl. Something about her was off._

_Then, Mikan began to cry._

_The man's eyes widened as he quickly dropped her picture and left. This was the second time that this was going to happen to her. He didn't ever want to see it or experience it again._

_Mikan choked on her sobs and cried for her supposed 'Grampa', but he never came._

**. . .**

Mikan woke with a start. It had been a _long_ time since she remembered that incident. Her grandfather never treated her the same after that day. She placed a hand on her forehead. It felt like ice. This wasn't a good sign. She closed her eyes and tried to even her breathing. It was working. Her heart calmed down considerably. She lifted her body to prop herself up on her elbows.

It had been about a week since she's been on the ship. The port that she was supposed to be dropped off on, had she not agreed to have stayed, had passed a few days ago. It was too late to have any regrets about wanting to stay. She was here for good. And _that_ means that she has to deal with Natsume and his crap. Sure, the rest of the crew was fine, but Natsume was all moody and 'get the hell out of my face'.

She lied back down and put a hand on her stomach, which was starting a hurt a little, along with her head. She looked out her window and saw that dawn was approaching. Maybe she could get a few more hours of sleep in. After all, tomorrow they were supposed to dock in Central Town, one of the biggest ports in the world.

**. . .**

"Captain, there's land up ahead!" Koko yelled over the bustling of his crewmates.

"Good," Captain Hyuuga boomed. "Stop at the nearest open port. We need to stock up on supplies."

"Aye," Koko replied, turning the wheel.

Mikan was inside her cabin with Hotaru. They were talking about what they needed to do once they got onto land. Mikan sat on a stool, her feet propped up on a desk. She was sharpening her silver knife since they were going to Central Town. Mikan wasn't stupid. She knew that the people who lived in that port didn't fancy pirates. Not at all. She wasn't going to risk getting killed by some random pirate assassin. It made all the more sense to be prepared when one is on the _Lunar Eclipse_.

"Hotaru, what are you going to get?" Mikan asked.

"Weaponry," Hotaru said bluntly, tying up her black boot.

Mikan raised an eyebrow, "What kind?"

"Guns, swords, maybe some silver daggers, considering we are going to Cape Cross," she said.

Mikan shook her head, "I'm amazed."

"Whatever," Hotaru said, setting her foot back down on the ground after tying her shoe. "Are you coming or what?"

"Yeah, yeah," Mikan replied, getting up and stretching.

Hotaru was already out of her cabin. Mikan sighed and reached into her back pocket to see how much money she had left. _Seven gold pieces, three silver, and eight copper_, she thought. She frowned at the amount. She couldn't get _too_ much, but it should suffice. She stepped out of her cabin and at the exact same time, she saw Natsume. Shirtless. And she couldn't help but notice that his pants hung dangerously low on his hips. Tints of pink appeared on her cheeks. She looked away.

"Put on some proper clothes, will you?" she said furiously. "It's indecent!"

"I've already accomplished indecency, remember?" he smirked, quoting the words she once said to him. "So, what's there to lose?"

"Just put your shirt on," she said, beginning to walk away.

"What?" he asked, matching her pace. "Is it too much?" He was teasing her.

"Shut up," she said, walking faster.

"I wouldn't be talking about proper clothing if I were you," Natsume added.

She then stopped. And it wasn't because of Natsume's comment. There was a sharp pang at her side, and she fell down to her knees. Thoughts raced through her mind. _No_, she thought. _This cannot be happening to me again_. The pain at her side felt like a white hot fire was being shoved into it. Mikan saw flashes of images she couldn't seem to comprehend. It was all disorienting.

"Oi, Polka." Natsume said. "Quit it."

Mikan ignored his disbelief in her. She held her side with both of her hands and took steady, even breaths. It was starting to go away.

"Polka." Natsume said. "This isn't funny."

Mikan decided to stand up. The pain was beginning to numb. She looked up at Natsume, who had an unreadable expression plastered on his face, as usual. Mikan tore her eyes away from his.

"You're right," Mikan said, her voice uneven. "It's not."

Mikan slowly turned away to walk up onto the deck when, suddenly, Natsume grabbed a hold of her upper arm. His grip on her was tight and it was the arm that was damaged by the wine bottles. Mikan winced as she tried to tug away.

"Let go of me," she hissed.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, serious. He tightened his grip further. "That wasn't normal."

Mikan scoffed. "Oh, I know."

Natsume frowned, "Does that happen often?"

Mikan glared at him and yanked her arm free. "That's none of your business."

She hurriedly ran up deck so that he couldn't question her any further. She would be lying if she said that he didn't have an effect on her. Being around him causes her to react. She didn't like the feeling because truly, she had never in her life felt that way before. It actually invoked her hatred for him even more.

Hotaru was standing by the main mast and Mikan waved hello. Hotaru looked at her and said, "We're splitting up from the rest of the group."

"What?"

"We only have until sunset, and if we take them along with us, we would have to go to the shops they need to go to, which are on the other side of the town," Hotaru said. "Understand?"

Mikan shrugged, "Can we hurry up with your weapon buying? Before I came onto this ship, I was actually coming to this port after the previous. I want time to explore."

"I will take the time I want," Hotaru said. "But if you want to, you can leave. Just remember to meet at the ship before sunset."

Mikan smiled, "Good."

The two girls walked into town. Mikan was careful not to attract attention. She was with a pirate after all. Mikan frowned. Even after she was admitted to the ship, she didn't feel like she was actually part of the crew. She had to admit it—she didn't _want_ to be part of the crew. She was kidnapped for Christ's sake. That didn't make her a pirate. It made her a bloody weakling.

Mikan knew now that she was just playing along. Even if she met Hotaru, it didn't mean that she liked it on that ship. She didn't even like one aspect of it. The crew members were okay. They didn't really talk to her, nor did she to them. She was an outsider. She wasn't a pirate, and Mikan began to think that she would never be. _I have freedom_, Mikan thought. _What more do I want?_

She already knew the answer—to sail the ocean.

Mikan was snapped out of her thoughts when they reached the shop Hotaru was going to. They stepped inside and Mikan found herself staring incredulously.

"Isn't this interesting?" Mikan said. "I've only ever been to a blacksmith's shop a few times. This one is…professional."

"You think I'd buy some artificial metal rubbish?" Hotaru asked. "I don't like cheap."

"Hm, carry along," Mikan mused.

Mikan walked around the blacksmith's shop, looking at the various swords he made. Now that she thought of it, the blacksmith was a looker. He had sharp eyes that pierced you right through. Mikan raised an eyebrow when she saw the way he looked at Hotaru. She would have to ask Hotaru what that was all about later. Right now, he was back to being engrossed in his work.

Mikan continued to search the swords. A particular one caught her eye. It had a very thin blade, and its handle was lined in what looked to be gold. But, it wasn't the gold that attracted her. It was the engraving. There were letters engraved at the base where the sword met the handle. It said _Your Savior_. The _Y _and _S_ appeared to be bolded with advanced calligraphy, while the other letters were simple.

Mikan looked very carefully at the inscription and found that there was a name that was scratched out. She picked up the sword. There was something peculiar about it, and it drew her in. Mikan handed the sword to the blacksmith.

"Do you know what was engraved here before it was scratched out?" Mikan asked.

The blacksmith looked up at her and wiped sweat from his brow. "Where did you pick that up?"

"Over there," Mikan said, pointing to the stand where swords were laid out. "Why?"

"That thing has been around for years," he said. "Nobody's ever bothered to buy it."

Mikan's eyebrows rose. "Is that so?" She pursed her lips, looking down at the sword. "Again, my question?"

The blacksmith shrugged, "It's been around since before I was born. It's always been that way, far as I could tell. The only person who would know what was engraved in it would be my father, but he's out of town."

Mikan ran her finger down the blade, "How much is it?"

"Fifteen gold pieces," he said.

Mikan frowned. She was short eight gold pieces. "How about to make that seven?"

He stared at her and then smirked, "Oh really? Why would I do that?"

Mikan smiled deviously, "Because then I won't be inclined to tell Hotaru you were ogling her."

His jaw dropped, "How do you know Cool Blue Sky?"

Mikan blinked, "You named Hotaru after the sky?"

"It's some stupid reference to a character in a novel." Hotaru stepped up next to Mikan. "I brought it in my pack one day and he got a look at it. Never let it go."

"Hayate Matsudaira," he said, holding out a hand. "Pleased to meet ya."

Mikan tentatively shook it. "You can call me Mikan."

"Well, then, Mikan," he said. "Sorry I couldn't figure out that engraving for you. But I'll knock the price down to seven, just because of Sky here."

Hotaru scowled, "Just shut it, Hayate."

Mikan almost laughed, "Well, here." She slapped down her last seven gold pieces. "And thank you." Mikan slipped her new sword into an empty loop on her belt. "How much longer?" Mikan questioned Hotaru.

"I need new weapons made," Hotaru said. "You might as well go out. This is going to take a while."

Mikan shrugged, "See you later, then?"

Hotaru didn't answer. Mikan sighed as she left the blacksmith's shop. She began to wander around town. It was quite beautiful, she had to admit. Women looked at her scornfully, though. Mikan knew why. She wasn't wearing proper clothing at all. She was supposed to be wearing a dress with heels and a corset, but the last time she wore all that crap, she was running away from home. After that, she went into a town and bought herself new clothing. It was so much more comfortable.

Mikan walked into a bakery. She loved sweets. Especially chocolate. But, she couldn't afford such a luxury at this point. Her grandfather sometimes used to bring home some, but obviously that doesn't happen anymore.

"Are you here to buy something?"

Mikan looked at the lady at the counter. "Can I have some bread?"

"How much?"

"Oh, a quarter of a loaf would do," Mikan replied. The woman wrapped up some bread for her in a cloth and handed it to her just as she threw some money on the counter. "Thank you."

The woman didn't reply. Mikan just shook it off. It wasn't her business what people thought of her. So what if they thought of her as improper? It doesn't matter. She never fit in, anyways. But she couldn't say that it didn't hurt her because it did.

Mikan found a nice table to eat at outside the bakery. She calmly ate her bread, while watching people go by. The smiled as she ate. The bread was so _good_. It was warm and toasty and so, so soft. A quarter of a loaf was not a lot. She wished she had gotten more for later, but she might need the money for something else.

Mikan was staring out into space, but was interrupted when someone sat down next to her. She wasn't actually surprised that it was Natsume. She seemed to bump into him quite often these days.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Eating bread," she deadpanned. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"I thought you were with Imai," he said, ignoring her jibe.

"Hotaru got caught up with Hayate Matsu-whatever-his-name-is," Mikan replied, taking another bite of bread.

Natsume stared at her, "There's bread back on the ship. You don't have to buy it."

"Yeah," Mikan said. "I know, but it's not fresh. It's stale."

This was true, but only because they hadn't stocked up in a while. "Just ask Umenomiya to make some."

"Maybe," Mikan said. "But I like going out to buy it." Mikan stared at Natsume as he did to her. She leaned forward on the table with her elbows. "The bakery always smells good and it's warm."

"Is that it?"

"Yup," Mikan said. She held out some bread for him. "Bread?"

Natsume took the piece and took a bite. He could tell why she liked it so much, but he would never admit that to her. "I don't see a difference."

Mikan shrugged, "Your loss."

Both of them finished the rest of the bread in silence. Mikan picked up the cloth and put it in her back pocket. You never know when you're going to need it.

"Well, I'm going off exploring the town," Mikan said. "Goodbye."

Natsume took a dive for her arm for the second time that day. "I'm going with you."

Mikan once again yanked her arm away. "No. You are not."

"Yes," he said. "I am."

Mikan glowered at him. "Oh yeah? And why is that?"

"Because I can."

Mikan frowned and mumbled, "You think you're _so_ funny. . ."

Natsume grinned arrogantly, knowing she wasn't going to do anything about it. "That's because I am."

Mikan huffed and started walking away. She didn't object to Natsume tagging along with her, but she made a point to ignore him the entire time. She made her way through the shops that interested her. She came by an unusual shop that stood at the edge of town. Mikan's interest sparked and she made a beeline for it.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Mikan didn't reply. She pretended like she didn't know he was there. She knew it was childish, but it was pissing Natsume off to no end and she enjoyed that. Natsume, on the other hand, didn't find it quite as amusing. Having a girl purposely ignore him was not what he was used to. He didn't like the feeling at all. He would rather hear her annoying voice than be ignored.

Mikan skipped across the cobblestone path that led to the small shop. It looked very old. Mikan tapped on the door thrice and took a step back, waiting for someone to answer. The wooden sign that jutted out next to the door stated _Serina's_.

The door opened and a woman around the age of twenty-nine clad in a black and purple gown stood at the door. She had blonde hair and dark brown eyes, and Mikan couldn't help but notice an ominous aura that surrounded her.

"Come in," she said.

Mikan didn't argue. She stepped inside with Natsume not trailing far behind her. The woman's shop was very quaint. The front room simply contained two red loveseats facing each other with a dark oak coffee table between them. The shop was lit with candles, which were placed haphazardly.

Next to the entrance, there was a place for shoes. Mikan took understood and took off her boots, placing them into a slot. She was now barefoot, and the cool wood floor felt nice against her aching feet. She _had _been walking all day. The woman gestured for the two to take a seat. Mikan did so, and much to her dismay, Natsume sat down right next to her.

The woman took a seat across from them. "My name is Serina Yamada."

"Mikan Sakura," she replied.

Serina nodded. She turned her head to Natsume. "You?"

Natsume glanced up, but looked uninterested. "Natsume Hyuuga."

Serina ignored Natsume's rude attitude. "You are here to get your fortunes told, am I correct?"

_So, this is what this shop is for_, Mikan thought. _Sounds like fun_. "Sure."

"Please follow me, then."

Serina led them to a room in the back. There was an indent in the center of the room, making it appear as if there was a single stair there. In the middle of the indent, there was a low table that held a crystal ball. Surrounding the table, there were dark violet pillows that were meant for sitting. The entire indent was covered by thin, lavender netting.

Mikan couldn't figure out where the dim light was coming from. It wasn't candlelight because it didn't have a yellowish glow. She ignored the thought and followed Serina into the opening in the netting. Mikan took a seat on one of the pillows. Serina was already sitting, waving her hand around her crystal ball that appeared to be filled with a lilac colored smoke.

"Mikan Sakura . . ." Serina said. "You've had troubled past."

Mikan blinked. "Yes . . ."

"You've had one friend your entire life—the one with amethyst eyes." Serina was concentrating on her ball. "Your parents . . . they . . ."

Mikan jolted. "You can see my parents in there?"

This startled Natsume. He didn't know Mikan was capable of making such an expression. She looked so desperate—as if she'd do anything to know about her parents. Natsume suddenly felt bad for hoarding information about her parents and not telling her. _Why the hell do I care?_ He thought to himself. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind. _I don't care._

"They attained a phenomenal achievement," she said. Then she looked at Mikan. "Do you not know much about your parents?"

Mikan's expression changed again. She sat back down on her pillow. "Not really."

"That explains why I cannot see them clearly," she said. "You have great hardship awaiting you."

Mikan rolled her eyes. "I guessed that one already. Tell me about my future life."

"You are very picky when it comes to those who are allowed to come close to you," Serina calmly stated. "But eventually you will meet someone you are going to spend the rest of your life with."

Natsume scoffed. "Who would want to spend their life with her?"

Serina raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you would be surprised . . ."

Natsume blinked, confused. "What's that supposed to—"

Mikan, still ignoring Natsume, butt in. "Serina! What else can you see?"

"I can see that you're going to want a child, but an obstacle will block that path. I cannot clearly see what it is, unfortunately."

Mikan frowned. "My fortune sounds very depressing."

Serina glanced at Natsume and cleared her throat. "Ahem, Mr. Hyuuga, if you'd be so kind as to wait at the front." Serina motioned Natsume to the front door. "I will call you back when the time comes."

Natsume shrugged and left. Once the door was safely shut behind him, Mikan spoke up. "The man I'm going to spend my life with?" Her voice seemed timid. "What's he like?"

Serina gave her a smile. "He's strong, very powerful, too. He will be aloof, but time will change him. He will protect you at the risk of his own life." Serina waved her hand once over the crystal ball. The smoke turned a bright pink. "Eventually, you will _become_ his life—every action, moment, and gesture of his will be for you." The color deepened into red. "He will love you more than anything."

"Is he . . . handsome?"

"Quite."

"When will I meet him?"

Serina paused for a moment. " . . . It depends on you." Mikan was confused. Serina sighed. "You have to open your eyes to see. You will meet him when you can see the evident."

Mikan nodded, but she still did not understand. "Aren't you going to tell Natsume his fortune?"

"He does not want his fortune told, and if he did, he would not want you hearing it," she put bluntly.

Mikan was taken aback. "W-what? He listened to my fortune!"

"Which is why he wasn't here for the second half," she said. "Please send him in."

Mikan grumbled as she got up. She opened the door and held it there for him. Natsume sat on the couch, reading a book that was on the table when they were sitting there last. "Get in there."

Natsume raised an eyebrow. "So you're talking to me, again?"

Mikan scowled. "Just go."

They took their seats again. Mikan was cooled off by now because Serina lit some incense that had a very pleasing aroma.

"Let's get this over with," Natsume said, leaning back on his hands. "Hurry up, Polka."

"You won't accomplish anything with that attitude," Serina reprimanded.

Natsume threw his head back, not caring. "Is that it then?"

"Have you slept with her yet?"

Natsume's head snapped up, and Mikan's eyes widened along with her face turning beet red. Natsume saw Mikan's face and was amused. There were so many expressions Mikan had that he didn't know about. He would have to make sure to see all of them. But right now, this one was amusing.

Mikan interjected, "What? Of course no—"

"Yeah," Natsume lied smoothly. "Plenty of times."

Mikan's face whipped around to glare at Natsume. "Don't lie! What's _wrong_ with you!"

"My apologies," Natsume sarcastically drawled. He turned to Serina. "Okay, so it isn't _that_ often it happens—"

"I can't believe you!" Mikan yelled.

Mikan was extremely flustered. She hated him! Why the hell did he have to be so . . . _infuriating?_ Why did Serina need to know this anyway? She didn't sleep with Natsume! Can't she tell by that crystal ball of hers? Mikan huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

Natsume was enjoying every moment of Mikan's frustration. Damn him if he didn't find her reactions entertaining. Mikan saw the smug look on Natsume's face and then it clicked. _Oh,_ Mikan thought. _He wants to play dirty, then?_

"What's the matter, Polka-Dots?"

Mikan feigned a sigh. "Nothing." She leaned on the table in front of her. "I just think you shouldn't discuss our love life with anyone." She didn't need to pretend to be angry. She already loathed him. "It's private, y'know?"

This time, it was Natsume who was taken by surprise, but he quickly covered it up with that infamous smirk of his. "Why so self-conscious? That's not what you're like when—"

"Natsume." Mikan cut him off. "Say anything else, and I'll make sure to never speak to you again."

Natsume was still self-satisfied with the way he teased Mikan. He mumbled to himself. "Wouldn't want that, now would we?"

Serina was watching the entire show. Of course she knew they never slept with each other. The only reason the question came up was for her entertainment. Seeing these two have a conversation was very compelling indeed. The tea she had ordered had just arrived. She poured them each a cup and had one herself.

"Have some tea," Serina said, mixing sugar into hers.

Mikan looked at her curiously. "Err, thank you." She mixed honey into her tea and drank.

Natsume picked up the dainty little cup and took a sip. He cringed. "Why is it so bitter?"

"Mix sugar into it, moron." Mikan didn't expect a lifelong pirate to know how to drink tea properly—seeing as how they mostly drank rum—but he could at least learn to copy what they were doing. She herself picked up whatever she knew about etiquette from her grandfather.

"Now that this little spat is over," Serina said. "What are two pirates doing in my shop?"

Mikan nearly choked on her tea but managed to swallow it. It burned down her throat, still hot from the cup. "Pirates?"

Natsume didn't like the tea but opted for a biscuit instead. "Why would you say that?"

"No proper lady would ever show her navel to the public," Serina daintily drank her tea. "Tell me; are you aware of your horrid decorum?"

"Yes," Mikan spat bitterly. "I am. But do I look like I give a damn? No. I don't."

"Yes, but you seem to have eating propriety."

"My grandfather," Mikan said, explaining.

"It would seem so."

Natsume now gave up on eating the crap she set in front of him. "So what if we are pirates?"

Serina shrugged. "I was just curious as to why you would spend your time here."

"I'm not a pirate."

Natsume looked at Mikan. "What do you mean?"

Mikan looked back at him. "I will _never_ be a member of your crew." She set her cup back down. "Nor will I ever want to be."

This bothered Natsume. "You're a member whether you like it or not."

"Keep thinking that."

Natsume's fist slammed down on the table. "Goddamnit! I thought you said you always wanted to be a pirate?"

"Well, not this way," she said.

Natsume sneered. "Do you think there is some _moral_ way to becoming a pirate? Do you even know what a pirate _is?_"

"To be a pirate is to be free," Mikan stated. "That's all."

Natsume stared at this girl in shock. She has no clue. She was completely oblivious to what she wanted. He wanted to tell her—a pirate is a murderer, a pillager. He already knew what he was and he accepted this. But _freedom?_ Sure, with being a violent escaping criminal, you obtain that. But by no means was that the only thing a pirate does. He was beginning to question how much this girl knew about what she wanted.

"Ever since you were little right?"

"What?" Mikan questioned Natsume.

"You've wanted to be a pirate since you were little," he said. "How did you find out about them?"

"My grandfather hated pirates," she said aimlessly. "He always babbled on about how awful they were, what they did, and how they worked. I was always so intrigued. They sounded so fascinating." Mikan sighed. "I worried him constantly."

"So you do know what we do," he said.

Mikan looked at him curiously. "Of course I do. I know what I want and the consequences of it. I just don't want to be on _your_ crew."

"It's not like I wanted you on it, either," Natsume spat. "It was my father's ludicrous idea."

Mikan abruptly stood up. "Serina, I'll be heading out now." Mikan tossed the rest of her money down. "Thank you and goodbye."

Mikan had her boots on and was out of the shop in no less than a minute. She _hated_ him. She wondered how much trouble she would get in with Hotaru if she just ran away, right now. All she could think of at the moment was how _angry_ she was. There was a cluster of trees near the edge of town where she was. She saw a path that led into it and didn't think twice before walking down it.

That's when she felt it again—the pain in her side.

She almost fell straight on her face. It was excruciating. She stumbled forward until she reached a tree where she hung onto it for dear life. _I cannot believe this is happening,_ Mikan thought.

Her grandfather used to call them her _unfortunate episodes_. After she had one, her body would literally shut down for days, sometimes even weeks. And Mikan could never express to anyone just how much she hated them. She remembered clearly—she was always taken to the doctor. Her grandfather thought it was a disease she had. Mikan seriously questioned whether or not he figured out that his granddaughter was completely abnormal.

Mikan writhed in pain. She fell to the ground and screamed. An endless waterfall of tears washed down her face and she choked on them. Mikan hesitantly lifted her hand up amid the pain she was feeling. It was happening. It definitely was. Her body omitted a strange, white glow. Mikan's hand fell down as another wave of pain coursed through her. She violently thrashed her arms to see if she still had control over them. But mainly, it was to see if she could still bleed—to see if she was alive.

Mikan's head pounded as she took in a shaky breath. Through the canopy of trees, she could still see the sky. _Sunset_, she thought. _I can never make it, can I?_ Her efforts on getting up were futile. Her arm was bleeding profusely. She didn't worry though. Her body healed quickly—especially once she knocks out.

As if on cue, she saw darkness.

**. . .**

Natsume angrily walked back to the ship. So what if she didn't want to be on his crew? It technically wasn't even _his_. It was his father's. He wouldn't care if she ran off and died somewhere. He couldn't care less!

Natsume furiously kicked a rock and sent it flying out into the sea. He dreaded the moment he had to see her again. He could see it now—her eyes giving him glares, her body sending him hate waves. He walked down the dock to where the _Lunar Eclipse_ was anchored.

"Natsume!"

Natsume turned his head up to see Luca calling at him from the quarter deck where the steering wheel was located. "What do you want, Luca?"

"Is Sakura with you?" he asked. "She hasn't come back yet, and Imai said that she was supposed to be here by now."

"Why the hell should I care?" Natsume snapped. "Do I look like an idiot's keeper?"

Luca raised an eyebrow and seriously thought about the question. "Well . . ."

Natsume was skeptical. "Luca!"

Luca laughed. "Well, sorry. _You_ asked." He turned to a serious expression again. "I meant it, Natsume. She was supposed to be back by now. It's past sunset, and the captain's furious. He thought that she was with you."

"Just leave her," he said, walking up the board to the ship. "We don't need her."

"Yes, we do."

"No, we don't," Natsume pressed. "She doesn't even want to be with us anyways."

"You mean she doesn't want to be with _you_." Hotaru's voice said. "She really only hates you, Hyuuga."

Natsume growled. "Get back to your cabin. We're leaving."

"We need her on this ship, Natsume," Luca said. "And you know it, too."

"If you want her on the ship so badly, then go get her yourself!"

Luca was taken aback before he looked at Hotaru. "Tell the captain I'm going to look for Sakura."

"No," Hotaru said. "I'm going. And I'm taking Hyuuga here with me."

"What?" he contradicted. "Hell no! Why should I go?"

Hotaru glared at him. "_You_ were with her last. _You_ should know a basic idea of where she is. And if _you_ don't come, I will personally be sure that she beats your arse again."

"Luca," Hotaru said. "Inform the captain. We'll be back." Hotaru started walking down the board to the deck, turning around once she reached the bottom. "We don't have all day, Hyuuga. Hurry up."

Natsume groaned and walked down the board. "Just so you know I'm only doing this because my father would hate me for life if I didn't."

"Sure you are."

Hotaru and Natsume didn't talk for the entire time the spent looking for Mikan. The only times they exchanged a word or two was when Natsume told her what to do to get to the weird fortuneteller's shop. They reached their destination fairly quickly, but it was mostly because they wanted to be rid of each other as quickly as possible.

"Here is where I last saw her."

"Then tell me, where did she go?"

Natsume glared at her. "How am I supposed to know?"

"Well, start looking." Hotaru glared right back.

Natsume begrudgingly started to look around. He didn't see anything remotely close to what he was looking for. That is, until he saw a piece of cloth caught on a scraggly bush. Curious, he walked on over to it. It was strangely familiar . . .

He suddenly realized it was the cloth Mikan had her bread wrapped in at the bakery. He quickly looked around and saw very subtle footprints in the damp soil path that led into a gathering of trees. Hotaru caught on pretty quickly. She saw that he had a lead and followed him to where he was running.

Pretty soon, they were on their way in. Natsume tucked the cloth into his pocket and made his way through. Then, like a slap in the face, he found her. And she wasn't in the condition he expected her to be in. She was sprawled out on the ground, her face sideways on the ground, covered by her hair.

"Oh shit."

Natsume looked at Hotaru. "What happened?"

Hotaru hesitated, although she didn't show it. It wasn't her place to tell Natsume what happened to Mikan. "Nothing. Just wrap up her arm in that cloth."

Hotaru bent down next to Mikan and pushed her friend's hair out of her face. She lifted her up gently into a sitting position, even though she was out cold. Natsume crouched down at her other side and wrapped her arm in the cloth, hiding the awful gash.

"We have to get her back to the ship," Hotaru finally said.

Natsume was already on it. He hitched his arm underneath her knee and shoulders. He hiked her up and they were on their way. Hotaru suggested they take the long path back. It was better not to attract too much attention from this port. They could be hanged in a matter of seconds.

Once safely on the ship, Tsubasa ordered for the anchors to be raised and they were off in no time at all. Natsume took her back to her cabin and just as quickly as he arrived, he left her. Yuu was immediately on Mikan's case while Hotaru briefly examined what happened to Mikan.

"Does this happen often?" Yuu asked.

"Not anymore." Hotaru said stoically. "She should be out for a few days . . . weeks . . . it really is unpredictable."

"What about food?"

"She doesn't need it."

"But how—"

"Nobody ever figured it out," she said, walking out. "Just leave her be. She'll wake up on her own."

Yuu finished up his work and pushed up his glasses. He left and shut the door behind him. This was a perplexing case. It was interesting, but he knew that Hotaru would murder him if he meddled any further. So, he just went to his cabin and decided to end the day.

**. . .**

Natsume offered to take the night shift at the wheel again. He needed to cool his head. As much as he loathed admitting it, he didn't like the sight that greeted him when he saw Mikan. He leaned forward on the wheel and sighed. The moon wasn't out today. It was covered by clouds.

* * *

**Reviews are appreciated.**


	4. Maze of Confusion

**Happy Reading!

* * *

**

**Stepping Out Of The Shadows**

**By Tsuki's Angel**

**~Chapter 4~**

**-Maze of Confusion-

* * *

**

It was the same dream each time, but she never remembers it. After she blacks out, she falls into a hole. It doesn't end until she saw the deep green color. That's when she fell into the maze.

"What is this place?" she asked herself in her dream.

Mikan was always conscious of having this dream, but she never successfully woken herself up from the middle of one. Ironically enough, she would only wake up when she died. And _that_ depended on how long she was stuck in the maze for.

Mikan began running through the maze. She heard voices again. Those strange, strange voices she heard as a child. Beckoning her. She wore a short strapless white silk dress. The soft tulle skirt flowed behind her. She felt the soft grass on her bare feet. She turned her head to look over her shoulder. Nobody was following her. Then why was she hearing voices? Nothing made sense.

This is where most of her time became caught up. She was running, but she never stopped. It was almost like she ran in circles, but the off thing was that the maze was completely square. Could you fit a circle into a square? Or was that merely a waste of time?

It felt like days. Truly, it was exhausting. It was when Mikan found a small hole in the leafy wall of the maze that she was grateful for a turn of events. She didn't really remember seeing the hole before. It was new. But then again, she always forgot what the dream was about. Still, there was something unfamiliar about it.

Mikan got down on her hands and knees and crawled into it. Wherever it let to _must_ be better than what she was experiencing at the moment. It was dark, and branched seemed to be positioned in such a way that it made it seem like a tunnel. When she reached the end, nothing was there. There was simply a small patch of grass.

Mikan sighed. It was useless coming down there. She turned back to return to the maze, but found that the tunnel had closed up. She frantically looked around. That's when she noticed it. The voices. They were louder. More audible.

"…_the last one…"_

"…_die…"_

"…_spill blood…"_

"…_fallen stars…"_

Mikan spun around and couldn't find where the voices were coming from. At one point, she thought that she was going mad. Bonkers, even. That's when the area around her began deteriorating. It fell apart like feathers floating in the air.

Mikan felt fingers caressing her face. The hand was warm, but she shivered. This hand—it seemed so familiar to her, like she had held it to her. When it vanished, she felt utterly abandoned. Her heart broken. She wanted to cry, but stopped when she looked underneath her. She gasped.

"Where am I?" she whispered to no one.

Mikan saw nothing but a pink sky. She was walking on air. Straight ahead, there was a brilliant sunset, shining different hues of pinks, oranges, and yellows. Soft wisps of white clouds were scattered here and there. She touched one and it disappeared on contact. And when she took a tentative step forward, space her foot made contact with caused a ripple in the air, like when a drop of water hits a still pond.

It was all so peaceful. So warm, inviting.

But, if that was the case, then why were those silent tears streaking down her cheeks?

All of a sudden, Mikan convulsed. She doubled over in pain and fell to her knees. She started screaming. Everything around her was gone. She was underwater. She could see the surface, but she couldn't reach it. The ocean was swallowing her. The ocean she loved so much was trying to suck the life out of her and drown her in its mysterious depths. Mikan fought for her life. She tried to keep her screams in her throat.

When she hit the black sand at the bottom, she felt her world being flipped over. She focused her vision and found herself still lying on black sand. Only, she was on a beach, not at the bottom of the ocean. Then she felt it again—the pain—but this time she knew where it was coming from. It wasn't from her side this time, it was from her back. It felt like someone took a dagger and was carving lines into her shoulder blades.

She wanted to scream, to cry, to reach for that hand that touched her cheek so tenderly, but she was rendered speechless. Her voice was gone, and she knew she was going to die.

And that was exactly what happened.

**. . .**

Mikan woke up with a jolt. She was panting, taking in gulps and gulps of air and her forehead shone with sweat. Her body violently shook. Her hands wouldn't still. _What just happened?_ She frantically thought. _Where am I? Why am I so scared? Am I dead?_

Mikan suddenly heard voices. She only caught bits and pieces. _The voices_, she thought, _they're back! What am I going to do? The voices, the voices…_ The voices spoke in deep tones.

"…not awake yet…"

"…kept murmuring incoherent things."

"Like what?"

"Like 'what is this place' or 'where am I' and even 'goodbye.'"

"…I'm still checking on her."

The door opened, and Mikan would have frozen on the spot if only she wasn't shaking so hard. When he walked in, the first thing she noticed that his eyes had widened and his mouth opened a little. She held her hands to her chest and tried to still them. She noticed her arm had a fading scar. Her eyes began to dart from her shaking hands to the man standing shocked in the doorway.

"So you're finally awake?"

Mikan's eyes stayed on the man. Who was he again? "W-who are y-you?" She realized she was freezing. It was half the reason she was shaking.

He blinked. "Who am I—Polka, what's wrong with you?"

Mikan blinked in recognition to the name he dubbed her with. "N-Natsume?" He raised an eyebrow. "I'm c-cold."

He took a few steps forward. Mikan began to recognize her surroundings again. She was in her cabin. Natsume sat down on her cot, right by her side. "Tch. You're so useless." There was a bottle of water on the ground next to her cot. He picked it up and held it out to her. "Drink up."

Mikan held out a shaking hand and took it. She was about to pop the cork out of the opening when she heard it. _Water_. It was sloshing around in the bottle. Images flashed through her mind. Was she drowning again? It certainly felt like it. A sudden tremor of fear seized Mikan and the next thing she knew, the bottle of water rolled onto the floor and she had thrown herself in Natsume's arms.

"The hell—?" he yelled. "Oi, get off me!" Mikan shook her head. "What do you mean 'no'? Get off!"

Mikan's voice was shaking. "I-I'm scared."

Natsume nearly laughed. "_You?_" he scoffed. "Scared? Aren't you the one who walked into that creepy fortune teller's shop?"

Natsume was completely skeptical of this girl. What kind of stunt was she pulling now? After all the trouble he got into with his father, he was expecting her to apologize to him, but now he felt something was terribly off about her. Natsume pried her off him. She anxiously looked at him, and he _really_ saw her. She was consumed with fear. Something was wrong. She reached out a hand and touched his cheek. He jumped. She was ice cold, and she had been crying.

"You need to see Tobita or _something_," he said. "You can't go to Cape Cross like this."

_The ocean, _she thought. _No!_ She was in his arms again.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" he snapped.

_Don't you see?_ Mikan thought. _I desperately need you right now. I'm not my own. Something's wrong with me. I'm scared. Help me._

"D-don't let me go," Mikan stuttered. "Something's wrong."

"I can see that," he jeered, trying to ignore her request.

"I don't know w-what's going on," she said.

"And you think I do?"

"J-just hold m-me."

No way in hell was Natsume going to hold her. But the girl had a grip like a vice. She had made her way onto his lap where she held his torso so tight, he thought that he was going to stop breathing at one point. But she didn't say anything. She used his shoulder as a resting place for her head. He kept his arms at his sides for a long time. But she was shaking. She was so cold. Slowly, unwillingly, Natsume took a hand and rubbed her arm.

Mikan sighed. He was so warm. She felt herself relax in his awkward embrace. As her fear dwindled, she felt herself grow sleepy again. Was she sleepy? Or was it something else? She felt a whole different sensation overcome her when he touched her cheek. His fingers lingered along her jaw. Somehow, the sensation was overwhelmingly familiar. She had definitely felt this before.

"Imai was worried," he stated.

"Hmm," Mikan hummed, closing her eyes.

Natsume eyed her, disbelieving. "Are you _seriously_ tired? You just slept for an entire week!"

"I wasn't sleeping," Mikan murmured. "I was lost."

"Why are you so damn confusing?" he questioned. "One moment you say you hate me, and the next you're jumping at me."

"You touched me," Mikan whispered.

He glared at her. "Who do you think I am? Some kind of creep?"

"When I was lost," she said. "I felt your touch…I think. Did you visit me?"

Natsume shook his head at her. She was mad. Definitely shit mad. She could be speaking to her in Latin for all he knew because she just wasn't making any freaking sense. He _did_ visit her. Once…or twice…and he _did_ touch her. But it was only to check up on her. And what was all the nonsense about getting _lost?_ Was she talking about passing out in the forest?

"You did." Mikan smiled. She lifted her head and kissed him once full on the lips. "Thank you," she said, before falling straight asleep.

**. . .**

Natsume left her and avoided questions about her like the plague. He went straight down to the pub where he had himself a glass of liquor. Evening had come by quicker than he had imagined. It was a sign that they were nearing Cape Cross. It was _always_ night there. It was literally a place where the sun never shined.

"Natsume, you're going to drink yourself silly if you keep at that."

Natsume glanced at her once. "What's it to you? Don't you have some map to paint?"

Sumire rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. You're just angry that Mikan hasn't woken up yet."

Natsume visibly stiffened. "I wouldn't be so quick to say that."

Surprise flickered across her face. "She's awake?" Natsume shushed her. So she whispered, "Why aren't you telling anyone? Hotaru's worried out of her wits."

"She fell right asleep after I visited her," he growled. "What was I supposed to do?"

Sumire sighed warily. "What did you do to her?"

"Why do you assume it was _I _who made a move?" he snapped angrily.

"It's the way you treat women, Natsume," Sumire chided amusedly. "Like they're some kind of tool to use if you need them. But it's different with her. Why do you find the need to tease her?"

"Have you _seen_ her reactions?" he asked. "They're the most amusing thing on the ship."

"That's really it?" Sumire asked, not believing that was the only reason. "Truly?"

"What other reason could there possibly be?"

Sumire grinned. "You're right. What other reason, indeed…"

**. . .**

It was evening when she woke up again. Around dinner time, actually. She groaned as she tried to stand up. She stumbled, but caught her balance.

"Damn," she grumbled. "Even hangovers aren't this bad…"

The promise of bread and stew got her to walk out of the comfort of her cabin. The pub was crowded as the crew was situated there for dinner. As she stepped in, it nearly went silent. She swallowed thickly. She hated this. It always happened to her. After she woke up from this ailment, everyone would be surprised that she was still alive. They would avoid her. It was simply because she was a _freak_.

Mikan took everything step by step as she made her way to the table Hotaru sat at. It included Captain Hyuuga's special selected crew. Her head was still foggy. She felt like she just drank ten bottles of rum. She took a tentative seat at the table and she felt several eyes on her. She scowled.

"What?" Mikan snapped.

Yuu flinched. "Are you okay?"

"I'm just _brilliant_," Mikan jeered sarcastically.

He swallowed. "Are you…hungry by any chance?"

"Starving."

Silence.

"What were you thinking?"

Mikan stared at her best friend with a bored expression. "What_ever_ do you mean?"

"Quit the act," Hotaru snapped. "You should have easily sensed that something was going on, and you _deliberately _ran off on your own." She glared at Mikan, but Mikan remained unfazed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

At this, Mikan flinched. "Why…?" Mikan looked at Hotaru will a serious expression—a _warning_ expression—that said not to talk any further. "Why don't we discuss _why_, Hotaru? I believe you are quite overdue for a conversation."

Hotaru immediately got up. "Out on the forecastle deck. _Now_."

Mikan got up just as angrily. "Fine."

Both of the girls were out on the forecastle in no time. It was silent. Nobody was manning the wheel. They had the anchor down because they had stopped the ship temporarily. Mikan noticed that not too far off there was a spit of land. She leaned back against the railing of the ship. The cool air was good for clearing out her head. She crossed her arms and waited for Hotaru to begin talking.

"When did this start again?"

Mikan didn't look her in the eye. She couldn't. Hotaru pitied her, just like everyone else. "It was an on and off thing over the years."

Hotaru scrutinized her. "You knew. You knew it was coming back." Mikan's silence confirmed her statement. "Why the hell didn't you tell me? I would have never let you go off to wander idiotically alone!"

"That's why," Mikan murmured, a bit sadly. She looked at Hotaru. "Don't you see? Hotaru, I don't _need_ anyone to look after me." Mikan hugged herself, shielding herself from the slight breeze. "I can take care of myself. I always have. Always will."

"You won't live long that way," Hotaru said, crossing her arms. "You'll end up dying one of these days. Speared clean through with a sword."

Mikan scoffed. "If that was going to happen, then I would most definitely be dead already, and my body would probably be at the bottom of some filthy river."

Hotaru's jaw clenched and she shook her head. "You can't hide from everyone forever. You're going to realize that you need someone by your side, and there's nothing you can do about it."

Mikan's eyes flashed. "I have you. You're my friend. It's all I need."

"I won't always be there," Hotaru said. "You're as free spirited as they come. You're going to want to run and go someplace far away."

"Then what are you saying?" Mikan's brows furrowed. "I'm confused."

"Find someone who will go with you," Hotaru said. "You need someone to take care of you."

Mikan spoke through gritted teeth. "I don't need anyone, for the last time. Why can't _you_ see that?"

Hotaru sighed. She was never going to get through with this girl. She was going to find out the hard way, wasn't she? "There was something else I wanted to discuss with you." Mikan's ears perked up. "Eventually, the captain's going to break up his 'special' crew."

"What?" Mikan breathed.

"We all signed a contract," Hotaru said. "Some are here longer than the others. When their contract ends, they will no longer be part of the crew. It's really their choice of whether they want to stay on the ship or not, but you will not be able to go the meetings."

"Con…tract?" Mikan asked. "I didn't sign a contract."

Hotaru pursed her lips. "Huh." She almost laughed. "Well, I'll be…"

"Hotaru…?"

"I knew it," Hotaru said.

"What's going on?"

Hotaru smirked. "All I can say is that you're special. He needs you for something. Just don't let him get under your skin. Don't reveal anything about your past. And definitely _don't_ do anything stupid."

"I don't understand," Mikan said.

Hotaru ignored her. "I'm hungry. Hopefully, Anna made stew out of crabs."

Mikan followed Hotaru onto the main deck, keeping near the railing the entire time. She looked out to the ocean. The moon shone brightly. It made the water sparkle like magic. Mikan found herself staring at it. Her head felt foggy all over again. She felt…strange. She couldn't describe the feeling, but something was calling her. Was it from the ocean? She leaned forward on the rail and smelled the salty air.

"Hey," Hotaru said, snapping Mikan out of her reverie. "You coming?"

"I'm going for a swim," Mikan said. "Don't worry; I'll lower the shrouds so that I can get back on board."

"Don't drown," Hotaru muttered. Mikan rolled her eyes and began to strip off her clothing. Hotaru grimaced and glared at her. "What if somebody comes out here?"

"I'll be in the water," Mikan reassured. "Besides…" Mikan grinned. "You won't let that happen."

Hotaru remained impassive as Mikan stripped the last of her clothing and was bare. "We'll see about that."

Mikan was already diving into the ocean, forgetting about Hotaru. Her head was completely fogged. She couldn't think. Briefly, she submerged underwater. She saw the sandy bottom only because the light of the moon allowed it. She let the feeling of the cool water cascading across her warm flesh sink into her. When she needed to breathe, she emerged from the water and took a deep breath. Cocking her head to the side, she wondered how long it would take her to swim to the island and back.

**. . .**

Natsume made an abrupt decision to go out on deck as soon as Hotaru and Mikan showed up at the table. He didn't want anything to do with Mikan at the moment. So, as soon as Hotaru appeared into the pub, Natsume excused himself and left. He passed Hotaru on the way out.

"I wouldn't go out there if I was you," Hotaru said when he passed her. Natsume stopped for a couple of seconds, but then he decided to ignore Hotaru and go back on outside. Maybe even back to his cabin. Hotaru shook her head at him. "Idiot."

Natsume made his way out on deck. He leaned on the railing and saw the small island that they weren't too far from. Suddenly, he noticed that the shrouds were lowered. He cocked an eyebrow and grumbled to himself about irresponsible crewmates. And as he pulled up the shrouds, Natsume noticed a messy pile of cloth. And they weren't just any pieces of cloth, either. They were women's clothing. Particularly _Mikan's_.

Natsume's brow furrowed. Was she walking around stark naked or something? He bent down and picked up an article of clothing. They were definitely Mikan's clothing. His head quickly darted around deck, looking for her form. Did she not know there was a bunch of men on this ship that could possibly be a bit perverted? Suddenly, he heard water sloshing in the far distance. He ran over to the railing to see a woman's silhouette break the surface of the water and whip her hair from front to back.

While Natsume was angrily watching Mikan carelessly splash around in the water. Mikan, on the other hand, was happy to be swimming. She was just about to make it to the island, when she felt herself suddenly weaken. She stopped swimming and immediately plunged underwater. She saw the sandy bottom just as her eyes began to droop close. And when they did, memories from her dreadful past seared her mind.

She was a little girl at the time. Her grandfather always took her back to this one lake in the village. It wasn't even a lake, really. It was more like a pond and, but she loved it anyway. On one side if the lake there was grass surrounding it, but on the other side, there was white sand. There was a swing over the pond. Mikan always used to swing on it and dive into the lake. Of course, when all the other children figured out that she was different from them, they didn't play with her at all.

So one night when nobody was around, Mikan ran back to the lake to play. She told her grandfather she was going for a stroll in the village square with Hotaru, so she couldn't bring an extra dress for swimming. She thought it best to strip and dive into the water. Her clothes wouldn't get wet, and nobody would see her. Her hair would mostly dry on the way back home, and he grandfather never questioned her. He would never let her swim around at night, since he never let her go out alone anyway.

Soon, Mikan found herself going to the pond more and more often. To relieve stress mostly. But one night, a terrible thing happened. Mikan was simply leisurely swimming. She was floating on her back when all of a sudden, she felt something grab her. It wasn't a hand or anything of a sort. It was worse. Whatever it was, it was dark and smoky and airy. She began to felt dizzy after it dragged her underwater. She felt herself lose her breath. That is, until she felt a hand grasp her wrist and pull her out. It was Hotaru.

Mikan fainted then. She didn't know what had happened, but she was safe and at home and fully clothed when she awoke weeks later. Mikan never spoke of the horrid night to Hotaru or anyone else. After that day, she never went to the pond again. And it was simply because she knew something was waiting for her there.

Mikan opened her eyes and looked around again. There it was. The murky, blackish purple smoke. It wrapped itself around her waist, and she began to feel dizzy again. She wanted to scream, and she realized that she was quickly running out of breath. She clawed at the shadow, but ended up scratching up her own skin. Mikan finally let out a breath, sending bubbles to the surface.

"_Don't die…"_

Mikan's last remains of consciousness told her that the voices were speaking to her again. But she couldn't respond. She was slowly beginning to lose confident in herself. Could she make it?

"_You're the last one."_

She was the last one of what? Mikan wanted to speak. To say that she was sorry that she was going to die. She was sorry she was so foolish.

Sorry that she didn't even have the energy to try to save herself.

**. . .**

Natsume was watching Mikan from the ship. He watched her submerge beneath the surface of the water. At first he wasn't worried, but when time ticked by and she wasn't resurfacing, he grew exceedingly worried.

"Polka, quit playing in the water!" he yelled out into the ocean. There was no reply. He tried again. "Polka!" No response. "Mikan?" he whispered to himself. His eyes widened when he realized that she was drowning. "Mikan!"

Natsume quickly threw off his boots and stripped off his shirt. He dove into the water with his arms above his head after lowering the shrouds. He had never swum so fast in his life. He came back up for air and dove back under. He looked frantically for her silhouette. After what seemed like ages, he saw her, limply on the sandy floor.

Natsume avoided looking at her at all costs and hoisted her to the surface. Her face was pale from what he could see. He swam back to the ship, carrying her over his shoulder while he climbed the shrouds. He laid her down on the deck and quickly covered her with his shirt. He pinched her nose and placed his mouth over hers. He blew air into her lungs a couple times and then placed his palms over her heart and pressed a few times.

Mikan's eyes flew open, and she coughed up water, sputtering it everywhere. Natsume patted her back and then rubbed it. Mikan began to shiver violently.

"What the _hell_ were you thinking!" Natsume yelled. He really shouldn't have been talking because he didn't do anything to stop her until he thought she was drowning.

Mikan glared at him. "It's n-none of y-your b-business!"

Natsume practically snorted. "If I didn't come out there to save you, you would be dead!"

Mikan fumed. She didn't like owing him. "Then maybe y-you should h-have let m-me die!"

"It would sure save me a lot of trouble," Natsume retorted.

While he wasn't looking, Mikan quickly threw Natsume's shirt over her head and got up, picking up her clothes as she went. She couldn't even stand looking at him.

"Where do you think you're going?" Natsume yelled after her. He got up and followed her, taking her arm and harshly turning her around. He kept his eyes focused on her face.

"As soon as we dock at the next port, I'm leaving. I don't care how much your father pays me," Mikan snarled. Her teeth stopped chattering, but it was mostly because she was so angry.

Natsume was taken aback. "The next port is Cape Cross. Unless you want to be stuck in eternal darkness, I suggest you stay on board."

"Eternal darkness?" Mikan questioned. "What the hell?"

"So you _weren't_ listening…"

Mikan rolled her eyes. "Just leave me alone."

Then, she bolted for her cabin. Natsume was on her trail, but she managed to slam the door right on his face, causing him to bang loudly on it and yell her name. Mikan sighed and threw off Natsume's shirt, putting on her own clothes. She picked up his shirt off of the floor, opened the door, threw it at him, and then proceeded to shut the door again all in one go.

Mikan dragged her feet over to her cot and threw herself on it. She needed to rest. But whatever it was that grabbed her in the water scared her. What was it? And why was it out to kill her?

**. . .**

Mikan was rudely awakened the next morning by Hotaru slamming the door open. Pieces of fabric were thrown in her face. Mikan groggily stared at her friend.

"What's your problem?" Mikan grumbled, rubbing her eye.

Hotaru glared at Mikan. "The problem is that we're getting off at Cape Cross today, and you need to get ready. We had a little detour because of your episode, but now we're back on schedule."

"What? I'm not going," Mikan said. "The Captain's picking out around three people right?"

Hotaru put her hands on her hips. "It's four people. Ando, Hyuuga, you, and I are going."

"Why am I going?" Mikan asked. "I have no idea what Cape Cross is! Did you think I was actually paying attention?"

Hotaru sighed. "Cape Cross is everlasting nighttime. It's never daytime."

Mikan blinked, confused. "Is it enchanted or something?"

Hotaru shrugged. "You can say that. Or you can say that it's the home of bloodsucking vampires. And the Night Tower is where we are headed. We need to get some heirloom, but it's heavily guarded." She mumbled incoherently something about things being too hard to steal nowadays.

Mikan was silent for a moment before she cleared her throat. "So what you're saying is that I am to combat fully armed vampires to get some crappy old piece of junk for _you_ guys?"

"Basically that's the gist of it."

"Well, that's just brilliant," Mikan said.


	5. Cape Cross Part 1: Mystifying Situations

**Happy Reading!**

* * *

**Stepping Out Of The Shadows**

**By Tsuki's Angel**

**~Chapter 5~**

**-Cape Cross Part 1: Mystifying Situations-**

* * *

Mikan was extremely grumpy. She threw the door open to the pub and walked back into the kitchen.

"M-Mikan?" Anna said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Getting something to eat," she said. "I missed breakfast." Mikan picked up the first edible thing she saw, which was a stale piece of bread, and began eating.

She was wearing an off-the-shoulder shirt with puffed long sleeves and tight black pants with a high waist and boots. Hotaru had insisted that she wore something that covered her navel. Mikan didn't realize it until she saw her torso bandaged up, but she had violently clawed herself last night, trying to get rid of the murky black smoke. She had deep gauges in her skin and it would be better if vampires didn't see bandages wrapping a wound.

"I like your necklace," Anna said, washing up a dirty pot.

"Hotaru told me to wear it," Mikan replied simply. Mikan picked the necklace out from where she had tucked it in her shirt. It was a gold medallion—simple with words written in a foreign language.

"It's nice," she complimented.

Mikan finished off the bread piece and walked out of the kitchen with a goodbye wave to Anna. She was surprised people haven't brought up anything about her incident. She decided to shake it off as good luck. As soon as she made an appearance on deck, she groaned. Everyone looked at her as if they had been waiting for the longest time. She walked over to where Hotaru was and stood by her side.

"The four of you have been selected to go to Cape Cross to obtain the heirloom," the captain said. "I will expect you back in no less than two days." He nodded to Hotaru. "Imai, I assume you know where to take off from here."

Hotaru nodded. She turned to face the three of them. Mikan shifted from one foot to the other while Hotaru gave instructions on how to handle the silver bullet guns that they were going to use for self defense. Each of them got one along with a silver dagger. Mikan listened intently while she was explaining the layout of the Night Tower—where they were to get the heirloom. After conducting careful research, it was the only place they could think of that the heirloom would reside.

"We better get going," Hotaru said.

As soon as the ship lowered anchor, the Natsume and Tsubasa threw the plank to get off the ship onto the dock. They had to be quick. Mikan almost slipped at the bottom. Natsume glared and snorted at her.

"How were _you_ selected to go on this mission?" he sneered once they were all on dock.

She glared at him with intensity. "I could ask the same thing."

"I hope you don't die," Natsume said facetiously.

"I hope you do," Mikan spat.

"Shut up, both of you," Hotaru growled. "We can't stick out in this crowd."

The both of them immediately shut up. Hotaru was dead serious. The harbor was completely covered with fog. It was ominous. And what was worse was that it was completely empty. There was _nobody there_. Crates were lying about here and there. Ships were even pulled up. Everything looked so drab and grey.

Then all of a sudden, a short wooden gate came into view. It came up to a little above Mikan's waist. They couldn't see _anything _beyond that gate_._ It was all covered with a thick layer of fog.

Mikan sighed. "We have two days for this mission, right? We might just get lost in that dense death trap."

"Right," Tsubasa said. "We definitely can't turn back now. The ship's left port."

"They _left?_" Mikan said.

"No ship is allowed to stay in port," Hotaru said. "That's why it's critical that we spend only and _exactly_ two days here."

"If that shocks you, wait until you see what's beyond the gate," Tsubasa grinned.

Mikan raised an eyebrow. Natsume jangled the gate and it creaked open. He stepped into the fog. Mikan took a sharp intake of breath. It looked like the fog _swallowed_ him. She ran in after him and was left in shock when she saw that everything beyond that short, little gate that was full of _life_. She looked back behind her and all the grey was gone and replaced by people working in the port. Children were sitting on the crates, playing music, laughing. She couldn't see Hotaru and Tsubasa until they appeared out of nowhere.

"What _is_ this?" Mikan gasped.

She looked up to the sky. It was covered it twinkling stars. The path from the gate into the small woods was lined with paper lanterns that lit the path with a warm glow. Mikan could see the town up ahead through the woods. She couldn't believe that this place was _dangerous_.

"Welcome to Cape Cross," Natsume said, loading a clip into his gun. "Let's go."

"This hardly seems like a place to be holding a gun," Mikan stated.

"Ha," Natsume said, turning around to face her. "Polka, I know this port better than you do. Trust me when I say that it's not all fairies and magic. It's pretty damn disturbing."

"Why should I believe you?" Mikan said, pushing his face away from hers.

"Because without me, you'd be _dead_," he spat.

Mikan was about to retort when Hotaru slapped a hand over her mouth to shut her up.

"That's _enough_," Hotaru said. "We don't need any more of your lover's quarrels."

Tsubasa slapped Natsume's back, which made Natsume jolt. "Let's go, Natsume." Tsubasa grinned.

"Don't touch me," Natsume seethed.

Tsubasa shook his head. "Whatever you say."

The walk to the town took longer than Mikan had anticipated. She thought it would be ten minutes, but it ended up taking at least thirty. Once they got into town, Mikan saw that there were even more paper lanterns. Little shops lined the dirt roads. Mikan couldn't really get a good look at the people, but they seemed nice to her. The women were wearing dresses and the men their trousers and shirts.

"Which way is Night Tower?" Mikan said, rather loudly.

Natsume grabbed her head to shut her up. "You _don't_ say that loudly. Okay?"

Mikan was suddenly frightened by the way Natsume looked at her with such fury. There was a hidden emotion behind his mask, though. Mikan couldn't quite put her finger on what it was exactly.

Still holding on to Mikan, Natsume turned to Tsubasa and Hotaru. He spoke in hushed whispers. "The night tower is obviously hidden, but Luca told me something about it being under a veil, kind of like this entire town. We have to look someplace unexpected."

Mikan wrenched his hand away from her mouth. "So you're telling me the captain didn't give you _any_ clue as to where this place is?"

"Do you think that he's ever been here?" Natsume snapped. "No. We're going off of instinct."

"Really?" Mikan said facetiously. "Do you even have any?"

Natsume glared at her. "Stay close behind me."

"What? Do you think I _need_ your help?" Mikan said. "I'm not a helpless little girl, Natsume."

"Will you just—" Natsume had to pause to calm himself down. "Will you just…just listen to me for once?" His jaw was clenched tight.

Mikan huffed. "I won't disappear. Let's just get this mission over with. End of conversation."

Natsume didn't say another word.

**. . .**

They had been walking for hours and seemed to be somewhere near the edge of town. Mikan had to stop a couple of times because the bandages on her torso became extremely loose. She needed Hotaru's help to fix them.

As they got closer to the edge of town, Mikan became discouraged. Hotaru was keen on looking everywhere, as was Tsubasa. They were both making sure that nothing came out of the darkness that was beginning to surround them. Natsume, on the other hand, was trying to find his way around this part of town. It was mostly frightening because the lights were dimmer. There was barely enough light to see where one's feet would go.

Natsume stopped suddenly when he came across a thick line of trees.

"There's no way there's anything beyond that," he stated.

"Beyond what?" Mikan asked.

"Do you not see this huge thicket of trees, Polka?" he sneered.

Mikan didn't say anything, but she didn't see a thicket of trees at all. All she saw was more buildings. Her eyebrows rose at Natsume's statement.

"I don't think that they're real," Mikan said, saying her words carefully.

"What do you mean?" Tsubasa said.

"What I mean," Mikan explained, "is that there is some way we can get past them."

"You're delusional," Natsume said.

Mikan glared at him. "I don't think so."

She looked at the area of the supposed thicket carefully. She saw a small waver in the air and stepped towards it. She examined it. What would be the consequence of putting her hand through it? Would she be electrocuted? Would she be sucked into a black hole? The possibilities were endless. One of the possibilities was getting to the Night Tower.

Mikan took a deep breath and pushed her hand through the waver. She gasped. It felt like cold water. She pulled her hand out quickly and found that she wasn't wet at all.

"How did you know that was there?" Hotaru asked suspiciously, crossing her arms over her chest.

Mikan didn't really want them to know that she didn't see what they saw. It would put her out and show that she was just as strange as the whole episode made her out to be. Mikan had to think quickly of an excuse to tell them.

"I saw a rabbit go through," Mikan lied nonchalantly. "It was obvious from there."

"Well then why didn't you say so?" Tsubasa laughed.

Mikan shrugged and turned her attention back to the waver. She breathed in and then hurriedly pushed her way through the cold. As soon as Mikan was in, she realized that it wasn't just cold, it was _freezing_. She knew that she only had a little bit of time, so she needed to sprint straight ahead. The entire area looked like an empty meadow. It didn't look like it was winter. It was green.

"Why is it so _cold_?" Tsubasa yelled. "Goddamn! I'm gonna freeze!"

"Suck it up," Hotaru said, even though she was pretty cold herself. "There must be a way out of here."

"We need to run, guys," Mikan said. "There's no way we'll last long in this cold."

"I think I see the exit," Natsume said. "It should be the cabin straight ahead."

Mikan scrunched her eyebrows. She didn't see a cabin, but it was too late to say anything. They were already sprinting. Mikan followed close behind, and when they got there, she was sure that she was going to lose a limb from the wretched cold. She watched as Tsubasa and Hotaru just disappeared. She was confused and didn't know what to do.

"What are you waiting for?" Natsume said, teeth clenched to keep from chattering.

"You go first," Mikan said, frantically looking around for maybe another way out.

Natsume raised an eyebrow. "Tell me what you see."

"What?" Mikan said, rubbing her hands together.

"What do you see?" he repeated.

"I see the cabin!" Mikan said. "Why are you not going? It's cold!"

"There was no rabbit, Polka," Natsume said. "You know or see something that we don't."

Mikan was shocked. "There was a rabbit! Y-you just didn't see it!"

Natsume didn't say anything, but he threw Mikan over his shoulder and carried her into the cabin, where they soon met up with Hotaru and Tsubasa. Mikan felt suddenly warm. It felt good. Natsume put her down on the ground. Surprisingly, Mikan didn't protest to his sudden actions or anything.

"What took you guys so long?" Hotaru asked.

"Polka didn't know what to do," Natsume said, speaking a half-truth. "Let's just find a way out of this place."

Tsubasa began walking around. He went to where an innocent fire was burning in the fireplace and sighed at its warmth. As he stood near the fire, he looked at the pieces on the mantle. There was really nothing of interest—just some odd figurines. Tsubasa picked up a very strange looking figurine of what looked to be a serpent of some sort. Even as a figurine, the thing looked as scary as hell.

And all of a sudden, just like that, Mikan froze. She looked frantically around. She _heard_ something. Her eyes darted back and forth.

"Do…you guys hear that?" Mikan whispered.

"And just when I thought you couldn't get any weirder," Natsume grumbled.

Mikan ignored him. "Do you guys hear it?"

Everyone stopped talking and listened for a while. The only noises they were hearing were the crackling of the fire and the creaks of the wooden floor. It wasn't until the noises got increasingly loud for Mikan did the rest of them begin to hear them.

"Is something _hissing_?" Hotaru said incredulously.

Out of nowhere, the once innocent fire burned out. The hissing continued to grow louder and louder until something jumped out of the fireplace straight towards Hotaru. Mikan leaped in front of her friend and sliced the said beast in half with a sword. Her hands were shaking as she saw black blood splatter on the ground. As Mikan examined the creature she just killed, she saw that it was a serpent with ridiculously long fangs.

"What…the hell," Tsubasa said. He looked pale.

"There are more of them," Mikan said. "I hear them."

"I don't hear _anything_, Mikan," Tsubasa said.

"I'm not surprised," Hotaru interjected. "Mikan, lead us _away_ from the hissing."

Mikan nodded. "This way."

Mikan sprinted up the stairs in the small cabin. Upstairs, there was nothing but an empty looking attic with a single window. Mikan turned around to see if there was another door, and what she saw scared the living shit out of her. Behind Natsume, she saw that a serpent had followed them. It was silent, and Natsume seemed oblivious to it. Mikan was about to scream at him, but it was too late. The beast already sunk its long poisonous fangs into the column of Natsume's neck.

Natsume screamed in agony. Mikan quickly decapitated the thing and grabbed Natsume's arm. He weakly followed her. Natsume's vision began to blur, and he couldn't see where he was going. Mikan quickly led Natsume to Tsubasa, so that she could break the window open. She cursed as she felt a cold gust of wind hit her. That wasn't the exit.

Mikan heard the hissing grow louder. She knew it would be a matter of seconds before they were attacked again. She saw that Hotaru was trying to stop the bleeding on Natsume's neck. Tsubasa was already by Mikan's side, looking for an exit. That's when the two of them noticed a chest.

"Do you think there could be something in here?" Tsubasa said, crouching near the chest.

"Hell, Tsubasa, just open it!" Mikan said desperately. "The hissing is getting louder!"

Tsubasa took a crack at the lock and broke it open. They both looked inside and saw a vast array of darkness. Nothing else.

Mikan swallowed. "It's our best chance if we don't want to fight hundreds of those beasts."

Tsubasa nodded. Time was precious. "Imai!"

Hotaru dragged a nearly unconscious Natsume over to the chest. Tsubasa helped her lift him up. Mikan sat on the edge of the chest. She was going to be the first one down. They had to do this all really quick, since the hissing was exceedingly loud now.

The noise hurt Mikan's ears. "We don't have time! I'm going!"

Mikan jumped.

She felt herself fall into nothing. It wasn't cold. It's wasn't warm. It was…nothing. She couldn't see her own arms. She couldn't see the opening of the chest. It was only after a minute or so that she felt herself splash into water. The water was lukewarm and salty. It brought back painful memories, making her heart race. She didn't do too well in water.

Mikan was submerged for God knows how long before she came to her senses. She had to find a way out. Swimming to the surface, Mikan broke out of the water and breathed in air. Her surroundings were unfamiliar. All she saw was water aside from a spit of land not too far from where she was. After squinting and seeing that her companions were already at the spit of land, Mikan made a beeline for the location.

She was out of breath as soon as she reached the sandy beach. The first thing that she did was take in her surroundings. The sky was dark navy blue, but there was no moon to illuminate it. Only stars. The beach glittered with crystal white sand. Beyond the beach, there was grass in which trees grew, creating a dense forest. A path of sand that was lined with lampposts was cut in between the forest, leading somewhere unknown. Looking at the bigger picture, Mikan saw another waver in the air. It was a much, much bigger waver than before. She would have to investigate that.

Hotaru and Tsubasa had propped Natsume up on a tree. Mikan gasped and ran towards them.

"He's losing consciousness," Tsubasa said. "He's going to die if we don't do something."

"It's the venom," Mikan stated, kneeling at Natsume's side.

"No shit," Hotaru grumbled.

Natsume groaned, and Mikan examined the wound. The bite was turning an ugly purple color and looked very painful. Mikan didn't hesitate when she straddled his lap and placed her lips over the two holes in his neck and sucked. Natsume grabbed Mikan's hips as he felt pain shoot through him.

"What are you _doing_?" Tsubasa yelled. "This is no time to seduce him!"

"She's sucking the venom out, you fool," Hotaru snapped.

Tsubasa shut up, but he still couldn't look at the two of them. Natsume had the oddest expression of ecstasy and pain written all over his face.

Mikan felt Natsume's blood rush into her mouth with a mix of venom. It was a bitter metallic taste that made her gag. After a mouthful, Mikan spit the blood and venom onto the ground, where the grass immediately withered away. Her mouth was beginning to feel like needles were being ground into it. She repeated the process four or five times until she felt Natsume loosen his grip on her. The wounds immediately began to heal, and Mikan sighed in relief.

Natsume's eyes opened the slightest bit. His breathing was still heavy. "Why…are you sitting…on me?"

"Because I just saved your life," Mikan said.

"Yeah," Tsubasa scoffed. "By sucking on your neck like a Goddamn leech."

Natsume's body began to feel rejuvenated, even though he was still dizzy as hell. His breathing was getting better also. "You know…"

"What?" Mikan asked carefully.

"You look pretty sexy when you're wet," Natsume said, lazily grinning. He used his thumbs to draw circles on her hips while holding them.

Mikan frowned and proceeded to slap him across the face. "You saved my life; I saved yours. We're even."

Natsume held his cheek in his hands. He began to come back to his senses as his head cleared. Mikan got up and spit out the nasty taste that lingered in her mouth. She crossed her arms and looked at the waver in the air again.

Her voice was growing coarse. "I think I know where to go next."

Mikan didn't have to say anymore. She just started walking and heard the footsteps follow behind her. She followed the path that was drawn out for them. The lampposts made everything very easy to see. The place would be very beautiful if it weren't for the fact they were there to kill vampires. The flowers that were planted on the sides were glowing. It was a gorgeous sight and truly one of a kind.

Mikan stopped walking when they reached yet another empty field. It looked like a simple field of grass with a few horses here and there. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"Why do I feel like this is too peaceful?" Tsubasa asked.

"Because it is," Hotaru retorted. "There is obviously something wrong here."

Mikan took a close look at the field and couldn't find anything amiss. "I think the trouble's up ahead."

Natsume remained silent. There was honestly nothing to say. Either they were given a break or they were in deep shit. One or the other. Not too hard to think about.

Tsubasa was the first one to step straight into the field. When nothing strange or spontaneous came at them, the four breathed a sigh of relief. Hotaru walked straight in followed by Natsume. Mikan, on the other hand, stopped in her tracks. She heard something move not in the field, but _behind_ her. She violently whipped her body around to look for what she heard. It terrified her. But she found nothing. Convinced that it was only her imagination, she began to walk forward until she felt a stinging on her stomach. She had opened her wound from where she clawed herself a while ago in the water.

Mikan then heard the noise again. Her back stiffened when she was stopped by a cold, clammy hand. She was thrown back harshly against a nearby lamppost. Mikan wanted to scream, but the venom pierced her throat. It was very painful. She looked into the eyes of the man that stopped her—or rather, _vampire_. He had gorgeous blonde hair and piercing red eyes.

He whispered, "Are you lost?" Mikan shook her head, and he laughed softly. His laugh was alluring. "Do you want to find your way back?" Mikan couldn't do anything with her hands pinned above her head and his body pressed against hers. He slowly unbuttoned Mikan's shirt. Mikan wanted to scream. Why couldn't they hear the vampire? "Are you wondering why they can't hear you?" He laughed. "It's the same as the gate back at the harbor. As soon as you cross the line, it's different. It's all so _different_."

Mikan found a small voice and whispered, "Get off of me, you _leech_."

"I don't think so," he said, smiling. He pointed to the bandages on Mikan's torso. "I can't let you go. You're…what's the word? _Enticing_." He chuckled. "Not to mention…you're _precious_, aren't you, my little angel?"

Mikan felt him press his thumb on her forehead. She began to feel dizzy. That's when she seriously began to panic. She was going to die. Or turn into a vampire. Or a slave. Most likely she was going to die…right? Mikan's heart began to beat faster and faster. Was this is? Was he going to take her to his evil lair? Was she going to die? Mikan's heart jumped in and out of place. She found her voice for a split second and screamed.

"_Natsume!_"

**. . .**

"Where's Mikan?" Hotaru snapped.

Tsubasa and Natsume froze. They looked behind them and she wasn't there. Panic began to show in Hotaru's eyes—something that never happens.

"Where's Mikan, you idiots?" Hotaru yelled.

"Shit, she was here just a while ago," Tsubasa said. "I could have sworn she was standing right behind us."

Natsume grew furious. "She's impossible to handle!" he roared. "One moment she's here, the next she's just causing trouble for the whole goddamn lot! What was my father _thinking_?"

"Shut your mouth," Hotaru snapped. "You have _no_ idea why your father needs that girl."

"And I suppose you do?" Natsume scoffed. "She's useless as far as I'm concerned."

"Have you _seen_ what the hell that girl does? What she can do to _you_?" Hotaru asked, seething. "What she _has_ done to you?"

"She hasn't done anything to me," Natsume growled. "Nothing but cause trouble."

Hotaru controlled her temper. She maintained her cool expression. "You're more ignorant than I had assumed."

Natsume's fury grew once more. He was about to give Hotaru Imai a piece of his mind when all of a sudden he heard a cry that threw his emotions on a full hundred eighty degree turn.

"_Natsume!_"

Tsubasa paled, "Mikan…?"

Hotaru barely whispered, "Vampires."

Natsume clenched his jaw. "Shit."

* * *

**It's been like what? Forever? Yeah, I know. It seems like I end all of my chapters with the same stuff: "I'm sorry it's late", "I will try my best", "I'm busy." Yeah. Well, you know the drill. I write, and you all tell me what I should improve on or your thoughts on my story—that is, if you want to.**

**Hope you enjoyed this short chapter!**


	6. Cape Cross Part 2: Where's My Angel?

**Hello, my dearies! I'm warning you: this is a very **_**dark and twisty**_** chapter. Especially for Mikan. Enjoy?**

**Happy Reading!**

* * *

**Stepping Out of the Shadows**

**By Tsuki's Angel**

**~Chapter 6~**

**-Cape Cross Part 2: Where's My Angel?-**

* * *

A solitary fire burned in the hearth. It was laughable since vampires had no need for warmth. They were cold, lifeless creatures with a thirst for human blood. Mikan felt her skin prickle from where the hideous creature drew blood from her neck. She gasped with pain. She grabbed the edge of the bed where she was seated. She felt the vampire seal the wound shut, and Mikan quickly looked away from him, disgusted.

"Your blood had a tang of venom in it," the vampire, who, as Mikan had found out, was named Kaname. He wiped the corner of his mouth. "I take it you had trouble arriving here."

Mikan kept her jaw shut tight. These bastards weren't getting a single word out of her. Her last cry of desperation had been embarrassing enough. She wasn't going to let them suck her dry—no pun intended—of information.

"She's being difficult," a female sneered. Mikan hadn't gotten her name, nor did she care. "Why don't you just kill her?"

"Patience, Yuri," Kaname replied. "She's not like the others. The venom didn't kill her."

Mikan toyed with her newly acquired silk gown. The black fabric glimmered as a result of the light emitted from the fireplace that illuminated the room. Kaname had insisted that his dinner be well prepared for him. Yuri had plucked and prodded at Mikan until she was as flawless as the rest of them. Mikan wrinkled her nose when she saw herself in the mirror. She was better off _with_ her flaws.

"What _is_ she?" Yuri asked. "She can't be human."

"No," Kaname said, "but she appears to be one." Kaname scrutinized Mikan. "Do you mind telling me—do you have any other forms?"

Mikan stared at the vamp as if he were the world's largest moron. "Of course not. I'm _human_."

Kaname pursed his lips. "So be it, then. You will be staying with us for quite some time. Do you mind telling me your name?"

"I'm not staying with anyone," Mikan snapped. "My friends are coming—"

"Oh, they won't," Kaname said simply. "There is no way they can get in."

Mikan smirked. "You obviously do not know Hotaru, then." Mikan's face grew grave. "She will find me. And when she does, I will have her rip off your heads. One by one."

Kaname found her amusing. "Charming. Tell me, do you always speak to your hosts like this?"

"I'm a prisoner. Not a guest," Mikan snarled.

"So it seems," Kaname said. "Does my prisoner have any requests?"

"Why the hell would you take requests from a prisoner?" Mikan asked grouchily. She was _not_ happy to be here.

Kaname raised an eyebrow. "Because," he explained, "you're going to be here for a _long_ time."

Mikan scrutinized him and got up. She walked up to him so that she stood inches from him. "Actually, I do have _one_ request."

Kaname grinned. "Which is…?"

Mikan punched him directly in the jaw. His head snapped back, but he brought it forward again. It showed no damage. Mikan's hand, though, was probably injured. "I knew that wouldn't do anything. But it felt good."

Kaname rubbed his jaw. "If I wasn't dead, I would say that hurt."

"Now for my request," Mikan said.

Kaname glared at her. "You really expect me to—"

"Like you said," Mikan interrupted, "I'm going to be here for a _long_ time." Mikan poked a finger to his chest. "So my request?"

Kaname growled. "Out with it."

"Return my previous clothing to me. I feel ridiculous," Mikan demanded.

Kaname shook his head. He walked over to the exit of the room where Yuri had left a while ago.

"I'm afraid I cannot oblige," Kaname said. "You look much too delectable. It would be a crime to rid you of it."

Mikan yelled and ran after him just as he shut the door in her face. She banged on the door. "Let me _out_ of here!" When Mikan didn't hear a reply, she kicked the door in frustration and sat down on the floor. Her anger got the best of her when she ripped off the short sleeves to her dress and undid her hair so it fell back down onto her back.

**. . .**

A vampire's head was thrashed against a brick wall in a dusty alleyway. Natsume hands clenched tightly to his shirt, and he wasn't afraid to shoot the bastard on the spot.

"Tell me where it is!" Natsume yelled.

The bloodsucker merely laughed at this man's anger. "I don't have a clue. You really think that I would know?" He grinned slyly. "How about a riddle then? Do you like riddles?"

Natsume pounded his head back against the wall again. "Don't mess with me."

Hotaru placed a hand on Natsume's shoulder. "Let me ask him something." Natsume's obliged but didn't let his grip go. Hotaru studied the vampire with a haunting look. "What's the riddle?"

"'Time only halts for time, for it holds the suspended life within this land,'" he said, almost amused. "Try and figure that one out."

Natsume's eyes radiated anger. The color resembled that of scorching magma. "I will ask you one more time. Where is the tower?"

The vampire's previously joking expression turned dark. He showed signs of fear. "Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you." He smirked, giving his lie away. Oh, he knew where it was, but he would die rather than tell. "It's definitely well hidden."

Natsume had it. He swiftly jerked the creature's head to the left, which did not do anything, but it left the vampire in shock. Natsume kicked him to the ground and unmercifully set the body on fire, ignoring the cries of agony. The golden fire he set upon the body turned purple in an instant. The fire burned for no longer than a minute before it ran out of fuel and left nothing but charred remains.

"I feel sick," Tsubasa admitted. "Those things _smell_ when they burn."

Hotaru shrugged. "How do you propose we find the tower? And Mikan?"

Natsume's mind was in frenzy. He wasn't used to things going so badly. It was all because of _her_. _She_ was the cause of all his troubles. All she did was cause him _trouble_! At that moment in time, Natsume would have given anything for this nightmare to be over. He was stuck in a dark, mysterious town with disgusting creatures that craved his blood, _and_ his father's prized possession went missing under his watch. They had just barely escaped from hissing snakes, Natsume was _bitten_ by one, and after walking for two hours across that stupid meadow, they had reached yet _another_ town with _no_ signs of the Night Tower.

Tsubasa loaded and unloaded his pistol in nervousness. "Why do riddles always have to be so hard?"

Hotaru sneered. "Maybe because they protect rare and precious items?" She looked at Natsume. "Our only chance is that riddle. We have to find some kind of bookstore and look up legends. We have a day left, Hyuuga. I suggest you use it wisely."

"Wisely," Natsume repeated to himself. "Wise would be to find a tavern to stay in for the night."

"It's always night," Tsubasa muttered, more to himself than Natsume. "I think we should do what she says. We only have so much time."

Natsume's anger spiked again. "Don't you think I _know_ that?" he roared.

"Calm down," Hotaru snapped.

Silence engulfed the group. Hotaru shook her head and decided to just take the lead. She had two morons to take care of—one with uncontrollable anger and the other with never ending questions. Hotaru made her way out of the dank, dripping alleyway and onto the bustling cobblestone streets of Cape Cross. She maneuvered her way through several tiny shops. The bookstore was not difficult to find at all. Quite the contrary, it was easy. Settled on the corner of two intersecting roads, the Cape Cross bookshop stood creaky and old.

Hotaru walked straight in without hesitation. The place with lit with several lamps scattered around the area. Books piled high and unorganized on shelves and floors alike. A young vampire sat at a desk in the far corner, immersed in a large novel. His curly brown hair held a pair of glasses that were not in use by his gleaming red eyes. He did not even look up when the bell jingled on the opening of the door. Only when Hotaru's shadow cast upon his reading did he look up to stare into livid amethyst eyes.

"I need information on the Night Tower," Hotaru stated sans introduction.

The vampire was feeble, afraid. "Ah, I would like to ask, ah, what you need this information for?" He twiddled his thumbs on his desk and tried to avoid Hotaru's eyes.

"I believe that is none of your concern," Hotaru drawled. "Just tell me where the information is."

He swallowed thickly. "U-upstairs. There should be a shelf with Cape Cross History."

Hotaru didn't give as much as a "thank you." A steep staircase led the three upstairs where they found shelves upon shelves of books labeled with their categories. The history section seemed to be pretty small. Hotaru was confused by this. A port this old should have mountains of history. She scrutinized the shelves. A single thin book about the Night Tower sat on the shelf. She frowned as she pulled it out. An envelope stuck out of the book. The paper was yellow from age. She ripped the envelope apart and pulled out a neatly folded letter that she soon found out had nothing written on it.

"What's that?" Tsubasa asked.

Natsume leaned back against an adjacent shelf. "It looks like a piece of paper."

Hotaru didn't answer either of the men and tucked the letter away safely. She looked for a table of contents. The page was ripped out with just a small sliver of page still attached to the book. The most she could make out were the first letters of each word, which were _H, T, O, C, A, _and _H_ again. Hotaru clenched her jaw. Things would never be easy for her, would they?

Flipping through the pages, Hotaru found that most of the pages just had pictures on them and that several of the pages were already ripped out. She chose to sit down at a nearby table to scrutinize the scarce text. She paused when she saw a familiar phrase all alone on a single page:

_Time only halts for time, for it holds the suspended life within this land._

Hotaru glanced at the picture on the page adjacent to the text. The picture was just of an old vampire standing in front of a shop in a crowded square. Hotaru couldn't find anything in the picture that gave away to the clue, but she moved on to the next page.

_Night Tower holds itself to the oath of the eldest vampire ancestors within the borders of Cape Cross. He who breaks the oath holds himself responsible for the annihilation of the Everlasting Life._

Again, the text stood alone on its own page. The next page had another picture. It was another vampire, except this one was dead. He looked extremely old, and he lay on a massive bed next to a window with the curtains drawn back. Hotaru saw that his view was of a forest with a clock tower in the distance.

"Are you done yet?" Tsubasa asked. "That book looks like it's a bedtime story for children."

"Vampire children must love reading about the annihilation of life, then," Hotaru snapped. She looked at Natsume. "Let's find a place to stay for a while. We don't want to be anywhere where we can be heard."

"We only have a day left," Tsubasa said, almost whispering. "We don't have _time_ to 'stay a while.'"

Hotaru paused and thought. She finally closed her eyes and whispered, "Damn it."

"'Damn it?'" Natsume asked angrily. "What do you _mean_ 'damn it'?"

"It _means_," Hotaru emphasized, "that we have to find that tower before the clock strikes midnight."

"It was midnight when we got here," Tsubasa clarified. "Got any other plans?"

"It couldn't have been midnight," Hotaru said, crinkling her eyebrows. "We left the ship at noontime."

"You're kidding right?" Tsubasa scoffed. "I know what I saw. It said midnight."

"_What_ said midnight?" Natsume asked, exasperated.

"The clock tower," Tsubasa clarified. "The clock tower said midnight when we entered the town."

Hotaru's heart skipped a beat, which happens quite rarely, but when it does, it means she's on to something.

Natsume noticed Hotaru's changed in expression. He asked, "Oi, Imai."

Hotaru ignored him and began sifting through the book once again.

**. . .**

Mikan curled up next to her bed across from the warmth of the fire. Her legs were held close to her chest by her constricting arms. The amount of strength she used to hold her legs close to her caused the freshly cut wounds to ooze blood. From afar she looked as if she was staring off into space, but looking closely, her appearance came across as disheveled.

Mikan's lip quivered. The cuts on her arms and chest stung. Her dress was almost all but shreds. Her hair stuck out in every direction. Tears stained her face. At that moment Mikan wanted nothing more than to see her grandfather again. The unfortunate episodes were coming more frequently now. They were the cause of her current state. Mikan shivered at the thought.

_Why? _She thought. _Why did I have to have an episode _now_ of all times?_ _Pull yourself together! You don't know if Hotaru will really come. Find a way out of here_.

Mikan existed in a state of pain and anguish that was impossible to understand. Never had she had an episode like that. She felt extreme rage and panic flood her. All she wanted to do was feel, hence the gashes. Mikan was tired of it. She was tired of scarring herself when she needed to feel something other than fear. _Fear_. An emotion that consumed her very being. Mikan felt the emotion surge through her body again. She shut her eyes tightly and willed herself to pull herself out of it.

As she struggled to stand up on her feet, searing gashes in her shoulder blades began to burn. Mikan fell face-first onto the bed. Her eyes began to droop as the silk sheets welcomed her into their clutches, but she refused to succumb into the sleep. The darkness that enveloped her in her nightmares was nearly impossible to overcome.

Mikan forcibly pushed herself up. She felt a warm liquid trickle down her bare back. The air cooled it as it slid down. She stood up and turned around so that her back faced the full length mirror across the room. She became fully aware that she might have gone insane because she saw absolutely nothing on her back. Only her pale, faintly glowing skin. No gashes. No blood. Simply flawlessness.

Taking in a lungful of air, Mikan gradually made her way to her door. She didn't have a plan, but she knew that the first thing she had to do was make her way out of her room. From there…well, she would think of that later. She knew Kaname set guards outside her door. That was step one: get their attention. Ignoring her aching limbs, Mikan thrashed her arms against the door. Her bare feet collided with the wooden framework.

What set the guards off was when she screamed out in agony. She screamed and screamed and screamed for _someone_, for _help_. What scared Mikan about it was that it was almost too easy to seem desperate.

She heard footsteps leave the door. Mikan barely had the strength to smirk. She sprawled across the floor near the foot of the bed, trying her best to look as "enticing," as Kaname put it, as possible. One arm next to her head, the other set gently on her stomach. Her legs slightly bent, eyes closed, body breathing slowly. If she couldn't get to Kaname, then he would have to come to her. After all, he was the one who brought her here. He must be the only one to get her _out_.

She heard talking outside the door.

"_It smells like blood, sir_."

"_What do you mean? Did you feed on her?_" Kaname.

"_N-no, sir! She was screaming, and she sounded awful_."

The door opened, and Mikan heard Kaname drawl in an uncaring voice, "What is it now?"

Kaname blinked a couple of times, trying to register the scene he saw before him. His unbeating heart constricted when his senses took in the image, but it was not from the fact that the girl was sprawled across the floor, looking as if she was dying. It was the _scent_ that made his heart constrict. The very aroma of the blood radiated from every corner of the room. His want, his _need_, came from bloodlust.

His attention was taken off of the banquet set before him when the girl took in a deep breath and sighed in her slumber. He knelt down beside her and lifted the arm that was settled on her stomach. He raised an eyebrow as he examined her appearance. The dress was ruined, but it didn't change the fact that she was beautiful in it. The cuts in her arms were no accident. He frowned. Was she trying to kill herself? That would pose a very big problem. This girl was special. He knew it, and he had figured out earlier exactly what she was. If she died, he would be at a loss.

Kaname shook his head. He set her arm down and examined the room. A bloodied white feather lay next to the fireplace. It looked innocent compared to its surroundings—blood, shreds of silk fabric, and more blood. The bed sheets were thrown about, and books were thrown off of shelves. He raised his eyebrows at every new observation. This girl was either completely mental or far more interesting than he had first anticipated.

Meanwhile, Mikan tried to keep her breathing under control. Her eyes moved underneath her eyelids, showing her nervousness. She heard Kaname walk around the room, chuckling to himself every now and then. He was probably looking at the horrible mess she made. Mikan remembered the anger that caused it. She whimpered, and immediately regretted it.

Kaname heard a noise come from the girl. He returned to her body and crouched down next to her again. He brushed a piece of hair from her eyes. Mikan shivered from the ice of his fingers.

"I wish I knew your name," Kaname said.

Mikan felt herself being hoisted into the air. His cool arms felt heavenly against her bare back. The sensation of letting her limbs fall limp created a sense of euphoria. It was as if she didn't have to try anymore. All she thought at the moment was how easy it would have been to just die. Why was she living, anyway? How could she? No wonder she was "the last one," as the voices put it. The others couldn't stand the pain, either.

Kaname saw the girl's facial expression change in her sleep. His own face remained impassive as he carried her to the far end of the tower where his bedroom was located. He would keep a closer eye on her there. He shifted his body so that her head rested against his chest. Mikan's mind was in a frenzy. She heard vampire voices everywhere. They were whispering about her. What was she supposed to do? She couldn't possible escape now! They would maul her!

"I wonder… can you hear me?" Kaname asked. When Mikan didn't reply, he sighed, "I suppose I will have to ask you if you tried to commit suicide when you awake."

Kaname reached the top of the tower where his room was located. Mikan felt him set her on something soft—probably his bed. She felt the edge of the bed next to her sink while his fingers moved her hair out of her face once again. Mikan chose this time to "wake up." She had to get out of here. She was alone with him, and she didn't hear the door close.

She feigned ignorance. "W-where am I?" Mikan rasped. Her voice was beginning to fail due to the excessive amounts of screaming she did earlier.

Kaname smirked. "Do you really want to know?" When Mikan nodded, his grin widened. "Then tell me your name." Mikan didn't speak. "Why won't you tell me your name?"

Mikan bit her lip gently. "Sakura."

"What?"

"My name is Sakura."

"Sakura," Kaname said. "Well, Sakura, you're at the top of Night Tower. This here is my domain. I rule this place, this tower, this entire _town_."

Mikan sat up. She didn't have to fake the pain. "Ugh," she said. "That's going to take a while to heal."

Kaname pursed his lips. "Yes. That is true." He looked Mikan in the eye. "Tell me, Sakura, did you try to kill yourself?"

Mikan played along. "And what if I did?"

"That simply won't do," Kaname said. "See, I have been waiting for you, Sakura. Beauties like you only come around once in a…well, I can't say lifetime." He chuckled. "Immortality takes that away from you."

Mikan looked at him, disgusted. "Unnatural is what it is."

"Also true," Kaname said. "But you didn't answer my question."

Mikan tried to think of the best answer. "Yes." It was partially the truth.

"Yes, you didn't answer my question, or yes, you tried to kill yourself?"

Mikan glanced away. "Yes, I tried to kill myself."

"Why?"

Mikan glared at him. "Why do you care?" She was genuinely curious.

"I told you," Kaname said. "I've been waiting for you."

Mikan looked away and tried to look embarrassed. She needed to come up with a plan, and quickly. But for the life of her, she couldn't think! Mikan quickly thought of a question to keep him talking. "Why did you kidnap me in the first place?"

"You're special," he said, as if it were painfully obvious. "Have you not noticed?"

Mikan looked around his room, still facing away from him. She didn't know what exits there were in his room. Mikan slowly swung her legs around to the other side of the bed. Before she could even blink, he was there. Kaname stood with his hand outstretched. Mikan shoved it away and got up on her own.

"I can take care of myself," Mikan said. "And to answer your question, I have _not_ noticed."

Kaname watched her as her bare feet padded across his stone floor. "Are you sure?"

Mikan scoffed. "Yes, I'm sure."

"You're a bit livelier, now, aren't you?" Kaname commented. "How are you sure?"

"I don't see a crown on my head," Mikan said sarcastically. "Do you?"

Kaname threw a crooked grin her way. "No, Sakura. I don't see a crown, but you're not that kind of special. Surely you know that." He chuckled again. "I'm sure your apparitions told you that?"

Mikan froze and quickly spun around, losing her balance. Kaname held her up by grabbing her arm. Mikan jerked it away from him and took a step back. "What do you know about my unfortunate episodes?"

"Well, for starters, they're called apparitions. And you're not the first of your kind, Sakura," Kaname stated.

Kaname scrutinized her and took a step forward. He grasped her arm once more and trailed his thumb down the deep gash. He raised her wrist to his lips and kissed it before trailing the tip of his tongue up the length of the gash.

Mikan immediately recoiled. "What are you doing, leech?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Vampire saliva has amazing healing properties," he explained.

Mikan snorted in a very unladylike manner. "I'm sure I will be okay. I will heal it myself later."

"Later?" Kaname asked, jokingly. "How so? I don't have healing supplies in here." Mikan swallowed thickly. "What is it, Sakura? Have you not found an escape route, yet?"

Mikan froze. _He knew_, she thought. _This entire time…he knew!_

"You didn't think I was that _dull_, did you?" Kaname almost laughed.

Mikan tried to think, but it was hard with all of this mess jumbled inside of her head. She could run out the door, but a hoard of vampires would be waiting for her. There was no way she would be able to fight them off in this state. Or she could jump out of the window, but the chances of her surviving from the fall are absolutely none.

Kaname stepped towards Mikan, slowly. "I'll give you two options, Sakura," Kaname said. "One: let me heal your wounds, and I will tell you all about what you are. Or two: stay here, as my slave. Either way, you are _never_ leaving."

Mikan acted on impulse and ran towards the open window. _Why was I living, anyway?_ Mikan was about to jump out when Kaname grabbed her waist and pulled her back. Mikan screamed when Kaname opened new bite marks on the base of her throat. Mikan felt the blood leave her body and, as a result, began to feel lightheaded. Weakly, she tried to push him away.

She tried to muster up another scream. "_No!_" Mikan screeched. Kaname didn't stop. Mikan began to feel dizzier by the second. The fear began to engulf her again. The pain was going to begin all over again. Mikan's mouth felt thick. "No…" she mumbled. "The…app…aritions…"

Mikan was on the brink of losing consciousness when Kaname retracted his fangs and sealed the wound shut. "Option two it is, then."

Mikan tried to shove him away again. "N…no…"

"Don't fret," Kaname said gently. "Apparitions don't come under forced sleep." Mikan didn't talk anymore. She couldn't find the will. She felt Kaname lift her and set her on the bed again. "When you awake, I will give you another chance."

Mikan felt herself give into the sleep. And as she did, she realized that the nightmares had disappeared.

**. . .**

"What's going on?" Natsume demanded. "Imai, why are you looking at that book?"

Hotaru's eyes were fixed on the page with the dead vampire. "It's the clock tower."

"What?" Tsubasa said.

"The clock tower," Hotaru repeated. "It's in all of these pictures. It always reads midnight. _Time only halts for time, for it holds the suspended life within this land_. It's been right in front of us the whole time. That clock is the _Night Tower itself_." Hotaru stood up and shoved the book into a knapsack. "All of these riddles about time…" Hotaru's voice came down to a whisper. "These vamps are only alive because that tower doesn't change time."

Realization flickered across Natsume's face. "Time is paused in Cape Cross."

"Exactly," Hotaru said. "That's why it's always night here, and that's why—"

"—why they don't die," Tsubasa finished.

Hotaru nodded. "The eldest vampires live in the Night Tower. They made an oath never to let the secret escape, and I guess they never would have thought that a few rogue pirates would show up and read a book. They're responsible for the _Everlasting Life_."

Natsume scoffed. "Quit speaking riddle."

Hotaru glared at him. "My apologies. I will change the nature of my speech to accommodate your _infantile _mind." Before he could retort, Hotaru continued. "Basically, we get the clock to work, the vamps die. And I'm betting anything that Mikan's locked up somewhere in there."

"How are you sure some other vamp didn't take her?" Natsume asked.

"Some other vampire wouldn't have been following us. Whoever he or she was, they were after Mikan," Hotaru said.

Tsubasa groaned. "We should have left her behind."

Natsume rolled his eyes. "You think?"

Tsubasa leaned back against a wall and replied, "There's no helping it now. We have to find a way to the Night Tower."

"We're already halfway there," Hotaru said. "If we had left Mikan behind," Hotaru purposely looked at Tsubasa, "we would never have found a way here."

"I would _really_ fancy a map right about now," Tsubasa said.

"We should have brought Shouda. Or Ogasawara," Natsume said. "They could make a map in no time."

"Is that all you two do?" Hotaru asked. "Complain? The way I see it, it's not going to get us anywhere. So pull yourselves together and act like a couple of men who need to save a damsel in distress, and help me make a map. I'm positive that we won't find maps in here."

Hotaru pulled a random but large book off of a shelf and tore out the title page. She flipped the page so that she could write on the blank side. Tsubasa looked around for a writing utensil, but the best he could do was a piece of coal that didn't make it into the fireplace.

And Hotaru began sketching. For a while, the only sounds in the room were the flickering of the flames in the fireplace and the coal scratching against the parchment. Natsume and Tsubasa commented every so often, pointing locations and directions out on the map. The map was finished when they drew the bookstore.

Hotaru examined her handiwork. "This is so plain, it's pathetic."

"It's something," Natsume said. "Come on. We can draw the rest of the map as we go so that we know how to find our way back. For now, let's find Polka."

The three left the bookstore quickly and unnoticed. They headed in the opposite direction from which they came, that route being their only option.

Tsubasa spoke in hushed whispers. "Is there any way that we can figure out the actual time?"

Hotaru shook her head. "We're relying on instinct." Hotaru glanced up, looking for a clock tower. "There it is. The clock."

Natsume glanced up at it. Sure enough, the clock remained frozen on midnight. "Let's hurry."

Natsume dodged through the crowd with Hotaru and Tsubasa close behind him. The brick buildings began to thin as they arrived closer and closer to the edge of town where they found a flight of marble stairs. The marble staircase winded up a hill. The hill itself wasn't really tall, so reaching the top wasn't a problem. The problem was what awaited them atop the hill.

The clock tower stood beyond a black metal gate with the letters "N" and "T" overlapping in elegant script. A cobblestone path, surrounded by luscious green grass and familiar glowing flowers, lead the way to the entrance.

"I'm expecting man-eating whales to pop out of nowhere," Tsubasa said. "It's way too easy."

"It _is_ too easy," Hotaru said. "There has to be some sort of shield around this place. Something that would be nearly impossible to get through." Hotaru pulled out her gun, fully loaded with silver bullets. "Stand back." Natsume and Tsubasa both let the weapon master do her job. Hotaru backed up until she stood on the edge of the staircase. Aiming her gun straight for the face of the clock, she fired. And she fired again. Hotaru shot the shield around the tower several times before it began to fade. The bullets she fired had lodged themselves into the shield. She knew the shield was gone when the bullets fell to the ground.

"Score one, Imai," Tsubasa said.

"Shields made by vampires can only be destroyed by silver bullets—the same thing that is lethal to vampires themselves," Hotaru said.

"Easy part's over," Natsume said. "Now the battle really begins."

Natsume climbed the metal gate and jumped over it, landing on his feet. While sprinting towards the tower, Natsume heard a familiar scream.

"_No!_"

Hotaru's eyes popped open. "That's Mikan."

Natsume growled. "Let's hurry, then."

Natsume ran straight for the entrance of the clock tower. He didn't bother waiting for Hotaru or Tsubasa. The front entrance was blocked by a few bulky vampires. They had seen the shield go down. Natsume knew that they were going to call for backup, and right at that moment, they were running towards him with swords at hand. Natsume dodged the first attack. The second attack sliced his bicep, but that didn't faze him. Natsume fired two shots and both vampires fell to the ground and burst into purple flames.

"Hyuuga! We're going in through the back!" Tsubasa yelled from behind.

Hotaru sprinted across the field and around the clock tower. She screamed out orders. "Follow me!"

Natsume swerved around a corner and was met face-to-face with another vampire. The creature grinned at him with sparkling white teeth. The fangs jutted out from his gums, and Natsume clearly saw that he was salivating. He shuddered.

The vampire smirked. "Entrance is forbidden to _humans_." His tone was sarcastic, as if he didn't believe that he could get past him.

Natsume loaded his gun quickly and held it to his fore head. "I don't give a shit." The bullet fired, and the vampire was nothing but purple fire.

Natsume looked around and saw that around a dozen vamps were already murdered—either shot or decapitated and set on fire. He jumped over the body he just killed, following closely behind Tsubasa. The back door was locked, no surprise there. Hotaru was already fixing the problem, though. She held an odd-looking gun. She aimed it at the door, and it made a high pitched noise before it shot, letting out a deafening explosion. The door was effectively destroyed.

"Why didn't you use that on the vamps?" Tsubasa asked, dumbfounded by the weapon.

"I only have two shots," Hotaru said.

Natsume didn't waste time as he ran up the staircase that the back door was concealing. Any vampire that was met on the way up was effectively murdered. In fact, the sheer amount of vampires that resided in the Night Tower was too great for the three of them to match. They were running low on bullets, not to mention stamina. Tsubasa was the first to stop to rest his burning muscles.

"Damn it," he wheezed. "How many flights of stairs _are_ there?"

"It's not called a tower for nothing," Hotaru grumbled sarcastically, although she had to admit that she needed to rest also.

Natsume wasn't quick to let his guard down. He heard running in the corridor previous to theirs. Grabbing his crewmates' arms, he quickly dragged them into the nearest room and shut the door behind them. He leaned back against the wall and pressed his ear to the door to listen. He heard the footsteps come and pass by the door. It was then that he held his hand out and produced a small flame to light up his surroundings.

Hotaru was quick to realize that the room they were in was not ordinary. It was completely empty, save for one lone sword perched up on the mantle above the fireplace, which was void of any fire.

Natsume silently walked towards the mantle and picked the sword off of its pedestal. He observed it perspicaciously. A small violet gemstone embedded itself into the handle.

"It's just a useless sword," Tsubasa said, leaning against the fireplace.

"It's a weapon," Natsume clarified. "It's not useless."

Though Natsume had just uttered those words, he still found himself using the tip of the sword to scatter the ashes in the fireplace. It was then that he started to notice something quite peculiar. No matter how many times he scattered the ashes, they wouldn't lose volume. They would remain the same lump of grey that he first saw them to be. Curious, Natsume shoved the sword into the pile of ashes. Instead of hitting the brick he knew to be beneath, he hit nothing and found the sword to be _sinking_ into the pile of grey.

Tsubasa rolled his eyes. "This place is shit mad."

Natsume knelt down next to the fireplace and thrust his hand into the pile of ashes. His hand hit the brick foundation of the hearth. He thrust the hand with the sword into the ashes further, and his hand was submerged beneath. His eyes widened.

"You can only get through with the sword at hand," Natsume said. He looked back at his crewmates. "We're going to have to all grab a hold of the sword."

"What makes you think going through that is a good idea?" Hotaru asked stoically.

"Because it's the only idea we have," Natsume replied. "There are hundreds of vampires in this place. We will either die or run out of ammo or both."

"I didn't particularly enjoy the snakes in the cabin incident," Tsubasa said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Natsume moved to the side, not letting go of the sword, urging his mates to grab onto the handle. "Stop being a wuss and grab on."

With a huff of her breath, Hotaru grasped the handle and forced Tsubasa to do so as well. Natsume didn't hesitate to plunge his hand into the ashes. As if by gravity, the three were pulled into the ashes. The feeling was peculiar. It was as if they were being dragged through a thick gel, although clearly they were in a blackness that was as thin as air. The only visible things were the sword and Natsume's crewmates. It wasn't unpleasant; however, it sent chills down Natsume's spine. Only when he realized that they were stuck in the gel did he begin to panic a bit. He couldn't breathe.

He looked to Hotaru and Tsubasa. Tsubasa was struggling in the gel-like air. Hotaru's eyes looked around for a solution. Natsume, as well, began to look for a solution. Their efforts were futile as they began to grow dizzy from the lack of oxygen. Tsubasa's eyes began to shut. The last thing Natsume saw was before his own eyelids drooped down was Hotaru's panicked face. It was one hell of a sight to behold before you died.

**. . .**

Mikan hadn't slept for an hour when she woke up. Clearly, she was simply suffering from insomnia. She just could not sleep for the life of her. Even when the sleep was blissfully calm. Mikan struggled to sit up. She felt a cold hand on her back, helping her. She glared at the owner of the hand. Kaname grinned in response.

"You really don't like me, do you?" he said, chuckling. "I feel chills when you look at me like that."

Mikan moved back so she could lean against the headboard. She took in a deep breath and stared away from Kaname, towards the fireplace. "One," she whispered.

Despite his keen hearing, Kaname couldn't believe what he had heard. "What?"

"Option one," Mikan mumbled. "But don't heal me. Just…tell me."

Kaname narrowed his eyes at her. "That's not part of the deal."

"I don't want to be healed," Mikan said, looking him in the eye now. "I want to know what I am first. Then, perhaps, I will allow you to heal me."

Kaname rolled his eyes. "You don't think I'm stupid, do you?"

Mikan was dead serious. "No."

Kaname raised his eyebrows. He ran a hand through his hair, contemplating whether or not to believe this woman. "Very well, then."

Slowly, Mikan nodded. "I have a question."

Kaname took a seat on the other side of the bed. He leaned against the headboard as well. Mikan didn't like how comfortable he was getting around her. "Ask away, sweetheart."

Mikan cringed inwardly at the endearment. Nothing like a few-thousand-year-old corpse calling you lovely names. "There were others like me. I know that. But why did _you_ know them?"

Kaname breathed a quick laugh. "I only knew one, but I know that there were many more before her. She was my lover."

Mikan paled. "Your…lover?"

Kaname enjoyed seeing this girl uncomfortable. "Yes," he confirmed. "Now, let me ask you a question. How was your journey here? Did you find it easy?"

Mikan paused. She remembered the odd journey to the Night Tower. "I…no, I didn't."

"You probably didn't see things that your friends could see," Kaname said, cocking his head to the side. "Am I correct?"

Mikan's eyes widened. "The trees," she breathed.

"And the log cabin," Kaname added. "I made it that way."

"Why the _hell_ did you put up that ridiculous conundrum?" Mikan hissed. "We nearly died!"

"No," Kaname said, denying the fact that she saw Natsume dying of a venomous snake bite right in front of her eyes. "You only nearly died because you were with the pirates."

"I would have died without them!" Mikan exclaimed. "I couldn't see the log cabin! I would have died!"

"Precisely," Kaname said. With the dumbfounded look on Mikan's face, he continued, "You couldn't see the trees because I made it so. The illusion is invisible to you because I made it invisible to your kind, namely my lover. She used to come visit me when she came around to Cape Cross. She was a free spirit, you see. And as with all things you love, you must set them free." He smiled nostalgically, and Mikan held onto his every word. "The log cabin wasn't visible to her either because that was supposed to be a trap that came through the portal by accident. The direct route to Night Tower is to 'die' in the meadow, essentially. Only _she_ knew that."

Mikan was quite for a second before she asked, "Pardon my asking, but _why_ was she your lover? You're not exactly a catch, you know."

Kaname shook his head. "I loved her. I know I did. However, I believe her love for me came about because I could force her to sleep every night. The nightmares went away that way." He looked Mikan directly in the eyes. "Tell me, Sakura. Did your nightmares go away?"

She swallowed thickly, whispering, "Yes."

"Blissful sleep," he said. "If I had kept her here instead of letting her go, she would still be alive. Her apparitions got her when she was somewhere else."

"Why did she die?"

"She succumbed to the sleep," Kaname stated simply. "Your kind do not wake up for days after the apparitions. In those nightmares you have during that time, you end up dying somehow. One day, you will die for real," he said. "Unless you can fight them off."

Mikan panicked on the inside. She was going to die? When? "How do I stop them?"

Kaname shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine, but I can tell you one thing: don't feel the pain of fear. Feel something other than fear." He glanced at her arms. The gashes had scabbed over. "But I see that you've forced yourself under a different kind of pain entirely."

Mikan stared at her arms. "No," she said. "I'm not afraid."

"Of what?" Kaname said. "Of the dark? Impossible."

"No, _possible,_" Mikan said. "It's possible. I'm not afraid of the dark. I don't _fear_ it."

Again, he raised his eyebrows at this girl. "Perhaps you shall live, then."

**. . .**

When Natsume's eyes cracked open, they were no longer in the dense air filled nothingness. They were in a small oval room that had curtains lining all of the walls. A pedestal stood in the very center of the room, and it held an intricately decorated box. It had a golden 'A' engraved on the top and on the latch that kept it closed.

Groaning, he propped himself up on his elbows and coughed. He saw Hotaru and Tsubasa waking up next to him. Hotaru looked aggravated as she coughed dryly and tried to catch her breath. Tsubasa was in pretty much the same state, except he made the mistake of standing up too quickly, making him lose his balance.

"This is one hell of an adventure," Tsubasa said, gripping the soft red velvety curtains for support.

Hotaru got up to her feet slowly and murmured, "Let's get out of here."

"Hold on," Tsubasa snapped. "I feel like I just died and came back to life. Give me a minute."

Hotaru glared at him. "Let me remind you that we have a certain idiot to rescue."

Tsubasa ignored Hotaru's comment, mostly because she was right and he didn't want to respond. His eyes caught the box that sat on the pedestal. The cogs in his head began turning, and suddenly, something clicked.

"Imai!" Tsubasa shouted, letting go of the curtains and grabbing Hotaru's shoulders, shaking them. "That's it!"

Hotaru glared at him. "You better have an explanation for touching me."

Tsubasa pointed at the box. "It's the goddamn music box!"

Natsume was up on his feet by now, and he was already walking towards it. He almost _glared_ at it. This inanimate object caused him so much misery. This stupid object that was placed in the middle of God knows where caused him be flipped onto his ass more times that he thought tolerable. His father better be one happy bastard when he returned because if he wasn't, there will be hell to pay.

Natsume eyed the box, looking for any possible traps. At that thought, he scoffed. _Of course_ the traps wouldn't be visible. So they might as well grab the damn thing because there was nothing else that they could do. Natsume reached out and lifted the latch on the music box. Immediately, a melody flooded the room. And it wasn't pleasant.

Hotaru and Tsubasa covered their ears, and Natsume just stood next to the screaming box, speechless. His eyes were wide, and slowly, it registered to him that he temporarily lost his hearing. Covering his ears also, Natsume swung a kick across the pedestal, knocking the box against the wall.

And just like that, the ground beneath their feet sunk in. They fell through blackness for a while, but then were suddenly exposed to a blinding white light. When they opened their eyes, they had no idea where they were, which was no surprise. What _was_ a surprise, though, was that they saw a normal bedroom. Nothing peculiar about it at all.

Hotaru stood up and very quickly realized that all three of them had been shrunk to the size of bugs and placed in some sort of glass container. Hotaru couldn't believe it. This was simply _humiliating._ Looking around, she saw that the music box was nowhere to be seen. And then she caught sight of a vampire. Not just _any_ vampire, though. He looked old and intelligent, and he was a perfect match for Mikan's kidnapper.

Natsume and Tsubasa quickly caught on to what was going on. They were apparently bound by an invisible force field because they could not walk past a certain distance. Hotaru glared at the vampire that was talking to a woman. A woman with brown hair and a small body. Hotaru's eyes widened.

_Mikan_.

Hotaru caught the vampire's eyes. He looked straight at her and smirked. Mikan turned around and glanced in their direction.

"What are you looking at?" she asked, squinting. "Hey, was that box there before?"

Kaname shrugged. "It's always been there, love."

Mikan glared at him for using that term of endearment. "Your mantle was empty before."

He rolled his eyes. "No it wasn't. You must be tired."

"I'm fine," Mikan said. She looked at the box. "What is that thing?"

Hotaru's eyebrows furrowed. "She can't see us."

Natsume observed Mikan interact with the vampire. They seemed awfully comfortable around each other for a kidnapper and his stolen person. He watched as Mikan hitched her dress up her thighs and sat down on the bed. Natsume's eyes trailed along her silky white legs. She lay down against the pillows and glanced at the leech.

Mikan held the vamp's gaze for a moment longer than Natsume found acceptable. He growled. "What does she think she's doing?"

"She obviously knows," Tsubasa said, shrugging. "He doesn't look like he's going to attack her."

"Not in a way that will harm her," Natsume grouched.

Three quick raps on the wooden door had Mikan's attention elsewhere.

Kaname glared in the direction. He gracefully walked over and opened the door. "Yes? What is it?"

"Several members have been found murdered," a guard said shakily. "The three killers are somewhere in the tower."

"I have it under control," Kaname said, almost laughing, glancing towards the mantle.

Natsume's anger spiked. "That little—"

"Shh!" Hotaru hushed.

"But sir," the guard said, "the other members need your final word on what to do."

"What to do with _what_?" Kaname asked irritably. "I'm busy."

"Busy, sir?"

"Yes, so if it isn't _urgent_, I highly suggest you leave—"

"Sir, it _is_ urgent," the guard insisted, glancing at Mikan. "The members need your final say on the fate of the bodies. We also need to know which guards to send to the higher grounds, and—"

"Alright, alright." Kaname huffed an annoyed breath. "Can't anyone do anything on their own here?" Kaname walked to Mikan and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. Mikan's jaw clenched, making Kaname frown. He sighed and said, "I'll be back in a moment."

"Don't hurry back," Mikan said underneath her breath, only for herself to hear.

Kaname didn't say another word as he exited the room, shutting the door behind him. He waited a few seconds outside the room to hear if Mikan was moving. She wasn't. He was confident leaving her in the room with the music box. It couldn't be moved from the mantle by anyone except him. It was foolproof, so he didn't have to worry about her running off with it.

"Sir? We have to get to the main corridor quickly," the guard said.

"Yes, yes," Kaname said, following the guard.

Back in the room, Mikan grunted as she tried to sit up. She stood up and walked towards a pitcher than was filled with water. She drank a glass and sat back down, grimacing at the stings. Closing her eyes, Mikan tried to think of several ways to escape the room now that Kaname was gone. She _could_ attempt suicide again; however, now that she wasn't as delirious, the idea seemed less appealing. Mikan's heart unexpectedly dropped when she thought of the possibility that she _wasn't_ able to escape. The thought had her frozen in place.

"_Hmm_," Mikan whispered. "_Why am I living, anyway_?"

Minutes ticked by, and Mikan jumped right up to her feet and ran towards the window. She threw it open and stood up on the windowsill. Looking down, the hard, stone path looked inviting. Mikan walked along the window ledge, looking death in the eyes.

"If anyone happened to see me," she said quietly, "they would think I'm mad."

Hotaru watched with wide eyes as she realized what Mikan was doing. "_No!_"

"Is she going to jump?" Tsubasa asked, panicking. "Well, is she?"

Natsume, once again, was left speechless. He watched Mikan's every move. "_No,_" he said. "She is _not_ going to die. Like _hell_ she is." He was angry. "I went through a shitload of trouble to find her. There is _no way_ I'm going to let her die."

"Mikan!" Hotaru yelled. "Mikan, you _idiot_!"

Mikan spun around on the ledge, and as she did, she felt a chill run down her spine. As if something was beckoning her. She glanced curiously at the box again. Her eyes shifted from the door to the box three times before she made the decision to hop off the ledge and look at its contents. Mikan very carefully lifted the box from the mantle. She sat down on the ground in front of the fire, setting the box in her lap. She lifted the latch and opened the box. Her head tilted to the side, and she smiled.

"What a lovely tune," she said.

Mikan enjoyed the music, that is, until she caught sight of what was in the box. Her eyes widened, her breath caught, and she screamed. The music box fell off her lap and onto the ground where her mini-friends tumbled onto the hard floor. Immediately after they lost contact with the box, Hotaru, Natsume, and Tsubasa grew back to their normal sizes. Mikan remained speechless as she gaped at the sight before her.

"Hotaru?" Mikan asked. "How—how did you get in there?"

Before answering her question, Hotaru snapped the lid shut to the box, sighing in relief once the noise ceased. "_This_," Hotaru said, pointing at the music box, "is the artifact we are looking for."

"How did you find that screeching a 'lovely tune'?" Tsubasa asked incredulously. "It's horrid!"

"I hear a melody," Mikan said, shrugging. "Don't you?"

"Huh," Tsubasa said. "Why am I not surprised that you hear something else?"

Hotaru looked Mikan in the eyes and said, "Mikan, were you—"

A shadow loomed over Mikan. She looked up and saw Natsume standing over her, his eyes murderous. He grabbed her arm and yanked her body up. Mikan hissed at the pain.

"_You_," Natsume seethed.

"Yes, me," Mikan said with equal malice.

"What was that stunt you pulled back there?" Natsume snapped. "There is no way you can get out that easy after the _hell_ I've been through to find you."

Mikan gave him an incredulous look. "What are you talking about?"

Natsume scoffed. "Were you trying to kill yourself?"

Mikan's jaw dropped. "_You saw_?"

"We saw everything," Natsume growled.

Mikan swallowed. "Even Kaname?"

"Oh, is that his name?" Natsume asked sarcastically. "I didn't know you two were such close _friends_."

"We're not," Mikan said, snatching her arm away from him. She turned her attention to Hotaru and Tsubasa. "How did you all find me?"

"It's a long story," Tsubasa said. "We'll have to explain later, but I am kinda curious. Why hasn't he, err, Kaname, um, _eaten_ you yet?"

"You mean _feed_?" Mikan said, crossing her arms. "He already did, but not enough to kill me. He has stuck in his head this _ridiculous_ notion that I'm going to somehow become his lover and stay here forever—"

"His _what_?" Natsume asked. "You've been with the leech for an hour, and you're suddenly his _lover_?"

"That's nasty," Tsubasa said, wrinkling his nose.

Mikan growled. "No! I haven't even thought of that idea. I've been trying to get him to trust me enough to explore the tower a little." She shook her head. "But as you can see, I've been doing a poor job at it."

"Why the suicide mission, then?" Natsume asked.

"We'll get to that later. Right now, we need to make the clock tick," Hotaru said. "It will kill them all."

Mikan gave her a flummoxed look. "What clock?"

"This tower is a clock," Tsubasa said. "Look, we'll explain on the way. We just have to get out of here to the top."

"This is the highest room in the tower," Mikan said. "If you guys aren't afraid of heights, I bet we can climb up to the clock from that window." Mikan nudged her head in the direction of the window. "We have to act quickly. I screamed pretty loud, and I'm sure he heard it. He's got tabs on me."

"The hell?" Tsubasa said. "Creepy leech, isn't he?"

Mikan rolled her eyes. "You have no idea."

**. . .**

"…yes, and make sure that these guards hit the low grounds," Kaname said. "I don't know how many of these pirates there are."

Kaname suddenly heard a scream. His nonliving heart would have skipped a beat if it could. He heard a faint melody, and it suddenly stopped. His eyes widened as he slapped his forehead. Why did he not remember that _her kind_ were the exceptions to all the rules? Of course he allowed _her_ to touch the box, since she always found the tune lovely. Now, he left the box completely _vulnerable_ in the hands of a mentally insane _pirate_!

Kaname instantly dropped what he was doing and sprinted towards the staircase.

**. . .**

After lodging the door shut with a chair, Mikan threw open the windows and perched up on the windowsill. She glanced from side to side, and noticed that there was nowhere to place her feet. She sat on the ledge and leaned back a little so that she could look above the window. The bricks that lined the window jutted out a bit from the tower. If she could stand on those, she could possibly jump onto the upper ledge, which led to a small balcony in front of a gigantic clock that Mikan had failed to notice before.

Mikan climbed up the window and grasped the balcony ledge. Pulling herself up, Mikan grunted. She felt like wounds were splitting open on her back. As soon as she was standing on the balcony, Mikan ripped a strip of the fabric off of her dress and used it to tie her hair up. She felt the hairs clinging to the nonexistent blood that continued to trickle down her back. Of course, she told Hotaru that it was the sweat that made her hair cling to her back. Why explain the madness when you can just lie about it?

Just as the last person stood up on the balcony, Mikan heard the door thrash open in the room.

"_Sakura_!" she heard Kaname yell.

Natsume, who was now standing on the balcony, kicked open the door to the room that held the cogs and gears that made the clock work…or not. The four of them rushed in and barred the door behind them. The room had little space to move or walk around in. Most of the area was taken up by the huge frozen gears. The room was dusty, the only light coming from the mysteriously illuminated clock face.

"We don't have time," Hotaru said. "Find a way to make this thing work."

"What's that going to do?" Mikan asked, panicking that Kaname was hot on their heels.

"It's going to make time move," Natsume said, shuffling through blueprints he found lying on a table. "And kill the bloodsuckers."

Mikan's eyes widened. "All of them?"

"Hurry!" Tsubasa said, as the guards began to gather outside of the door.

Mikan eyed the place, looking for a solution. She found a small flight of stairs that led to a door about halfway up the clock. Mikan made a mad dash for the stairs and threw open the door. She saw the guards panicking below her. Showing no mercy, Mikan grasped the metal rungs that ticked off the sixty seconds on the clock and climbed her way to the hands that paused at midnight. Her theory was that if she pushed the hands off of the twelfth mark, the clock would move.

Of course, that was just a theory.

The tips of the clock hands were made so that Mikan could stand on the side while grasping the metal. She tested just how stuck the hand was. With a good shove of her foot, she was sure that she could make it move. Glancing down, Mikan saw the terrified faces of the vampires. They looked helpless. The face that stuck out the most was Kaname. He wasn't doing a single thing to stop her. Instead, he looked a little lost. Mikan thought it was probably because she was of his lover's kind.

And suddenly, Mikan felt something that she rarely felt: guilty. She was the _Fallen Angel_. She _never_ felt guilty. She _shouldn't_ feel guilty, especially not over a clan of bloodsucking demons like these. However, Mikan understood the impact of her actions. With on shove of her foot, she could end an entire civilization. That amount of death would be on her hands.

"What are you waiting for?" Natsume yelled from the door. "_Kill them_!"

Mikan glanced at him and then down. Calmly, she whispered, "I…can't…"

Just as she said that, a sharp pain seared through Mikan. It was gone as soon as it came, but her footing slipped. And accidentally, she had shoved the clock hand off of the twelfth tick. She saw the wide eyes of the vampires as they began turning into dust right before her very eyes. A sharp wind blew around Mikan, encircling her in what she hoped wasn't the vampire dust. She covered her eyes with her arms and desperately tried not to scream. If she did, she would get dust in her mouth.

In a sudden, spontaneous flash, Mikan's body was writhing again. She felt nonexistent claws dig gashes into her back as she was thrust off of the clock tower by an unknown force. The next thing she knew, time stopped right there and then, yet she was still falling. Mikan noticed that her body was beginning to glow the familiar white glow. The glow grew brighter and brighter until her surroundings were completely engulfed by it. Once the light died down, Mikan saw that she was no longer surrounded by dust and that she did not have control of her own body.

She was glowing brighter than ever, and she felt something familiar fill her heart.

The force controlling Mikan lifted her hands and looked at them, turning them to examine her beautifully glowing skin. _What…am I? _Mikan thought.

A voice suddenly spoke to her. "_Darling, I am you_."

Mikan realized that the voice was in her head. She thought, _Me? How are you me? Who are you?_

"_I am one of you but in spirit. I'm here to see _him."

_Him? _Mikan thought. _Are you talking about Kaname? Are you his lover? Are you one of me?_

"_You understand now, darling,_" the voice said. "_I am Lila. I am sorry I am using so much of your energy._"

Mikan felt Lila move her body, and it was at that moment that Mikan realized that she was suspended in midair. Her heart thudded in her chest as Lila maneuvered them towards Kaname and the other vampires, who appeared to be left healed and unscathed.

In Kaname's eyes, Mikan's body floated down towards him. He patted his body to make sure he was still alive. When he looked up again, he saw that Mikan was just a few feet away from him. She floated right in front of him and smiled. His eyes were glued to hers, which had changed from the stunning hazel they were before to the bright alluring green of his former lover's.

"_Kaname_," Lila's voice spoke from Mikan's mouth. "_Kaname, I'm sorry_."

Kaname's eyes widened, and he nearly choked on air. "L-Lila?"

"_Yes,_" she said. "_Yes, love, it's me. I'm sorry I never came back. I'm so sorry_."

Kaname quickly reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling Mikan's body down to his. He enveloped his arms around her tiny fragile body. "No. No, don't be sorry. You couldn't have helped it."

Mikan's arms willed themselves around Kaname's body. They gripped tightly onto the fabric that clung to his back. Foreign tears washed down Mikan's cheeks as Lila felt the excruciating pain of loss. Lila's spirit rested within Mikan, and the pain that she felt radiated through Mikan's own heart. The ache of losing a loved one ripped through her very soul as Lila willed Mikan to bury her face into Kaname's chest. The sorrow that Mikan felt at that moment forced her into giving up control of her body completely for this one moment of union between these lost lovers.

Hotaru, Natsume, and Tsubasa watched from the balcony as Mikan supposedly embraced Kaname.

"What does she think she's doing?" Natsume asked furiously.

"Did she really become his lover?" Tsubasa asked.

Hotaru watched the scene with a keen eye. She sighed. "I'm going to trust that she knows what she's doing for once."

"How can you say that?" Natsume hissed. "She's just about two seconds away from making _love_ to a some-thousand year old corpse!"

Hotaru shot a glare at him. "You seem awfully concerned for someone who supposedly hates her guts."

Natsume growled and ignored her snarky comment. Meanwhile, Lila felt Mikan relinquish control and silently thanked the young angel. Lila felt herself being completely consumed by the love and adoration Kaname was showering her with. Mikan, with her soul still being present in the situation, felt incredibly lonely and a tad envious. She had never once in her life had someone cherish her so. Lila felt her presence in the physical world slowly deteriorating. Mikan's body began to slowly and gently lift up despite Kaname's attempt to keep her at bay.

"No," Kaname said with anguish. "No, don't leave."

"_I can't stay,_" Lila said. "_I'm not alive, my love_."

Kaname's face contorted into pure agony as Lila floated away from him. As a final goodbye, Lila gently placed a hand on Kaname's cool cheek. She brushed away tears that had fallen. Slowly, Lila leaned her face down until she was centimeters away from Kaname's face.

"_I've always loved you, Kaname_."

Then, she placed her lips onto his. Mikan felt a sudden rush of emotion. Her heart began to thud loudly and erratically as pure bliss and happiness bubbled within her chest. Her heart swelled with such wonderful and excruciatingly pleasant emotions that she simply never wanted the moment to end.

It was when Lila's presence was completely gone that Mikan lifted her lips from Kaname's. She heard Lila whisper, "_Thank you, darling_."

Mikan's body was still glowing, and just as Mikan was about to tell Kaname that she was sorry, another bright white light flashed and engulfed her surroundings. Mikan felt herself being lifted further and further away from the Night Tower, and she was suddenly terrified that she had left her friends there. She shut her eyes tightly and wished with all her might that she would not be alone when she opened her eyes. It was when she was gently put on the ground that Mikan realized that it was all over. Gathering the courage to open her eyes, Mikan pried her eyelids open and glanced around. She sat up and saw her crewmates lying on the ground near her, the music box safe in Hotaru's arms. She still wore the dress that Kaname had given her, even though she recognized her surroundings as outside the port.

Mikan reached up to touch her face and realized that her cheeks were slick with salty tears. Her efforts to wipe them became quickly futile as she realized that they wouldn't stop. The raw and untainted emotion that she felt still lingered within her, causing her to react without knowledge.

Tsubasa grunted as he propped himself up on his elbows. "Ugh. I _never_ want to be picked to go here again."

Hotaru brushed her hair out of her eyes and attempted to stand up. Although her legs were still wobbly, her strength and stubbornness forced her to stand upright, music box at hand. "I'm going to second that." Hotaru saw Mikan's state of being and decided that she needed time alone. She turned around and started strutting immediately towards the ship. "I'm leaving. Now. Ando, follow me."

Tsubasa stood up, although his body was a little off balance. He didn't bother looking at either Mikan as he turned his back to Cape Cross and walked towards Hotaru. "You don't have to tell me twice."

Mikan was grateful to Hotaru as she saw that the two of them left her alone. She didn't know where Natsume went, but she appreciated the off chance that he wasn't here to ridicule her. She was completely and utterly humiliated. Here she was, one of the most dangerous killers in the world, and all she has been doing lately is crying. When she did become so _weak_? It killed her on the inside to realize that this was happening to her. And what was worse was that she didn't know if she could overcome it or not.

Natsume was actually not far from Mikan at all. He sat a safe distance behind her, with his back to a crate. He couldn't see Mikan cry, since he faced away from her, but he could certainly hear her. Natsume sighed as he tried to get up onto his unstable legs. Silently as possible, he walked over and stood behind Mikan.

Mikan jumped and swiveled her body around when she suddenly felt someone touch her shoulder. She stared into a pair of bright red eyes. Mikan's heart thudded in her chest, and she felt herself overcome with emotion once again. However, this time the emotion was different from the sorrow and heartbreak that she was feeling a moment ago. This was a feeling similar to one she felt when Lila was in her body. It wasn't…unpleasant.

Mikan placed her hand over her racing heart. She didn't like how Lila's emotional rollercoaster was playing with her own. Brushing it off as a side effect of the situation, Mikan settled down as she looked back up to Natsume.

Natsume held out his hand. "Get up. We need to get back to the ship."

Mikan didn't say a word as she took his hand. Natsume pulled her up, stopping her body from crashing into his when he pulled too hard. Moments passed between them as they both acknowledged the fact that neither one of them was making the first move to let go of the other's hand. Mikan stood awkwardly in front of Natsume, and Natsume plastered his usual stoic expression on his face.

When Natsume decided that neither of them was going to let go, he tightened his grip and began to lead them towards the ship.

"Natsume?" Mikan said, asking an implied question. _Why are you holding my hand_?

"Who knows when the hell you'll start disappearing again," Natsume snapped. "My father would personally assassinate me if I lost you."

Mikan felt a little pang at his answer but didn't reply. She was tired. There would be time to retort later. Mikan's lack of comeback concerned Natsume, but he didn't show it. As they approached the plank that led up to the ship, they heard the ship's crew members begin to call out to them.

"Eh, Natsume!" Koko yelled from the ship. "The captain's looking for you!"

Natsume rolled his eyes. "I figured."

Natsume kept a hold of Mikan until they were safely on the ship. There, he stopped when they were in front of the door that led to his father's quarters. Natsume loosened his grip on Mikan's hand and let go.

He looked at her from the corner of his eye as he pushed the door open slightly. "Don't go anywhere this time."

And he was gone.

Mikan sighed and decided to turn in for the night. But that notion was quickly shot down when she realized that any sleep that she would be getting tonight would be plagued with nightmares. So, instead, she decided to join Hotaru on the quarter deck where the young weapons master was unloading and reloading her gun.

**. . .**

Natsume stepped into his father's quarters where he found his father pondering over the newly acquired music box that rested on his desk. Without bothering to look up, the captain gestured his son to sit in one of the leather chairs situated in front of his desk.

Natsume took a seat. "You wanted to see me?"

Captain Hyuuga looked up. "Ah, yes, yes. I wanted to congratulate you and your mates on finding this."

Natsume narrowed his eyes at him. "What did you really want to say?"

The captain smirked. "Can't get anything past you, can I?" Natsume was not amused. "Well, for starters, we need to set off to our next destination."

"Which is?"

"A swamp," the captain deadpanned.

Natsume stared at his father incredulously. "What do you plan on finding in a _swamp_?"

"It's more _who_ I'm planning on finding," his father replied. "From what I read in my texts, I found that she has Fae blood. She also has a thing for doppelganging. Do you by chance remember the _Black Faerie_ I mentioned at our last meeting?"

"You want me to find a demonic doppelganging faerie?" Natsume asked skeptically. "Do you even have any other leads?"

"Not at the moment, no," the captain said.

"Of course you don't," Natsume grumbled.

"I do, however, know that you will be going with the same assemblage that assisted you in Cape Cross more or less," the captain said, and before Natsume could complain, he added, "What you need from this faerie is her _trust_, Natsume. You need her so you can obtain a wooden staff." Natsume leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for his father to continue speaking. "This staff is an artifact of the fae people. A very _important_ artifact. Get information on its location and seize it. Do you understand?"

Natsume shrugged. "Just in a day's work."

The captain grinned. "Excellent. There will be no time limit on this mission, son. However, I will swap out Imai for Shouda and Yome this time around. They're contracts are ending, anyway. You will most likely not need superior weaponry in this realm. It is more likely that you all will get lost in the labyrinth-like nature of the swamp."

"Is that all?" Natsume asked, ticked off that another mission came up so soon.

"Yes," the captain said. Natsume got up and was about to leave when the captain suddenly said, "Oh and Natsume?"

"Yeah?" Natsume snapped.

The captain looked at Natsume with a serious expression. "Watch out for Sakura, okay?"

* * *

**Long chapter. I hope it makes up for my absence. So…I just thought you guys should know that I'm graduating from high school on June 2nd! Whoo! Where does time go? I swear I was just a freshman yesterday. Now I'm 18…haha.**

**Did you enjoy this chapter? Was it what you expected? Please tell me your thoughts on it! Also, how about ya'll take a crack at some guessing? What do you think will happen next?**

**I know Mikan was kinda wimpy in this chapter; however, I meant to make her seem like she was deteriorating. I want to portray that Mikan is a really strong person, but this curse that engulfs her takes its toll on her. But, because of her strong personality, she is chugging through it. Tell me what you think?**

**I did not check for grammar mistakes. And because I haven't written this in a long time, my writing style may have changed a bit from the last chapter, as I am a growing writer.**

**Reviews are always appreciated!**


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